iiii i ii r i «• «»■ mmmmimmmimtml'''''* I I II I """""""■^w~»-M-yw^'M"M ^ ■ uM.iim^ ■ I iiiinniiiiiiiWM . ■ ;'m ii '', imw^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE Arthur H. and Mary Harden Dean Book Fund ^•"*«^ Cji^' f fr*" EDWIN STANTON FICKCS •^- HIS BOOK -^S» Cornell University Library F 157.A5C46 The French in the Allegheny Valley. 3 1924 006 587 053 All books are subject to recall after two weeks Olin/Kroch Library DATE DUE SS^-^ TlOin JKX; GAVLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. t^if Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924006587053 THE FRENCH ALLEGHENY VALLEY. BY T. J. CHAPMAN, M. A. V^S hi V, CLETSLAND, O. : W. W. WILLIAMS, FUBLI8HZR. ^' . Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, By T.J. CHAPMAN, in the OfiSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All rights reserved. ^^VX\l\t"ll" <^ A' l#» '!* ' , <' -V" >. , .V C' ,'■ c/ ^''h'vaS strong was living at the time at Carlisle, in Pennsylvania. He, has been described as " one of the most rernark;able men of his timp. To fearless intrepidity pf the Ijighest cast was united in, hisicharacter a strong sense of religious responsjbili'y, that rarely blends with military septimpnt."* ; He did much valuable spryice during our troubles with the French, and afterward served as a brigadier-general in the Continental army. On the thirtieth of August, 1756, Armstrong marched from Fort Shirley in Hunt- ingdon county, with an army of only three hundred and seven men, against the famous Indian town of Kittanning, on the Allegheny river. The French called the place Attiqup. Celoron, it will be reniem- bered, stopped at this point on his way down the Allegheny in 1749. He described it as a Loup vil- lage, and says it contained twenty-two cabins. The Loups were a branch of the Delawares, and were called Munceys by the English; A few days after Braddock's defeat, James Smith was taken from Fort Duquesne to this town, where he says he remained about three weeks, but he does not give any descrip- tion of it, moi-e than to say that it stood ' ' on the * Washington and the Gener'als of the American Revolution, page 218. 76 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. north side of the river. " From Kittanning there was a well known trail called the "Kittanning Path," which led across the mountains to the headwaters of the Juniata. It was much traveled by the Indians, being in fact their main thoroughfare between the eastern and western sides of the Allegheny mountains. Kittanning was the headquarters of Captain Jacobs, a noted Delaware chief. The history of the affair is best told by Armstrong himself, in his official report to Governor Denny : FoKT Littleton, September 14, 1756. May it please your Honor : — Agreeable to mine of the 29th ult. , we marched from Fort Shirley the day following, and on Wednesday, the third instant, joined our advance party at the Beaver Dams, a few miles from Fraakstown, on the north branch of Juniata. We were there informed that some of our men having been out upon a scout, had discovered the tracks of two Indians on this side of the Allegheny mountains, and but a few 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 decamped, and in two days came within fifty miles of the Kittanning. It was then adjudged necessary ;to send some persons to reconnoiter the town, and 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 purpose. The day following, we met them on their return, and they informed us that the road was 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 appears they had not been nigh enough the DESTRUCTION OF KITTANNING. 77 town, either to perceive the true situation of it, the number of the enemy, or what way it might be most advantageously attacked. We continued our march, intending to get as near the town as possible that night, so as to be able to attack it next morning about day-light ; but to our great dissatisfaction, about nine or ten o'clock at night, one qf our guides came and told us that he perceived n fire by the road-side, at which he saw two or three 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 how we could best proceed without being discovered by the enemy. Sometime after, the pilot returned the second time, and assured us from the best observation he could make, there were not above three or four Indians at the fire. On which it was proposed that we should immediately surround, 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 dis- covering the whole design, and the hght 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 have Lieutenant Hogg go with twelve men and the person who first discovered the fire, with orders to watch the enemy, but not to attack them till break of day, and then, if possible, to cut them off. It was also agreed (we believing ourselves to be about six miles from the town), to leave the horses, many of them being tired, with what blankets and other baggage we then had, and take a circuit off of the 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 loss arose from the ignorance of our pilots, who neither knew the true situation of the town, nor the best paths that led thereto ; by which means, after crossing a number of hills and valleys, our front reached the river Alle- gheny, 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 pilots, we were guided by the beating of the drum and the whooping of the war- riors at their dances. |8 THE FRENCH IN THE AtLEGHENY VaLLEY. It then becartie lis to make thfe best use of the remaining moonlight • but ere we were aware, an Indian whistled in a very Singular manner, about thirty perches from our front in the foot of a corn-field ; uponwKich Wfe iinraediately sat down, and after passing silence to the rear, I aslteil (jne 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 ydung fellow's calling a squaW, after he had done his dance, who accordingly kindled a fire, cleaned his giin and shdt it ofi be- fore he went to sleep. All this time we were obliged to lay quiet and hush, till the moon was faintly set. Immediately after a number of fires appeared in different Jjarts of the corn-field, by which, Baker said, the Indians lay, the night being warm, and that the fires Would imrnediately 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 mostly asleep ; the line being long, the thi-ee companies of the tear were not yet brought over the last precipice. For these some prope, hands 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 we then lay, and march along the top of the said hill, at least one hundred perches , and so much farther, it then being day- light, as would carry them opposite the upper part, or at least the body of the town, for the lower part thereof; and the corn-field, presuming the warriors were there, I kept rather the larger part of the men, promising to {jostpone the attack in that part for eighteen or twenty minutes, until the detachment along the hill should have time to advance to the place assigned them. 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 through the several parts thereof; a party being also dispaltched to the houses which were then discovered by the light of the day. Captain Jacobs immediately then gave the war-whoop, and with sundry other Indians, as the English prisoners afterwards told us, cried, ' ' The white men were at last come, they would DESTRUc'riolJ Of KiT'TAiJ:r!riNG. fg then have scalps enough ; " but at the same time ordered their squaws and children to flee to the woods. Our rtien, with great earnestness, passed through and fired in the corn- field, where they had several returns from the enemy, as they also had from the opposite side of the|river. Presently, after a brisk firS bega^ among the houses, which from theihousfe of Captain Jacobs was returned With a great deal of resolution , towhich place I immediately repaired, and found that from the advantages from (he houses and port-holes, sundry of our people were wounded and some killed, and finding that returning the iir^ upon the house was ineffectual, ordered the contiguous houses to be set on Hre, which was performed with a great deal of activity— the Indians always firing whenever an object presented itself, and seldom missed of wounding or killing some of our people, from which house, in moving about and giv- ing necessary directions, I received a wound with a large musket ball in the shoulder. Sundry persons during the action, were ordered to tell the Indians to surrender themselves prisoners, but one of the Indians in par- ticular, 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 did ; and had we not desisted from exposing ourselves, they would have killed a great many more — they having a number of loaded guns there. 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, at the same time, was heard to cry and make a noise, btit for so doing she 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 corn-field, who were immediately shot down by our people ; then sur- Toiinding the houses, it was thought Captain Jacobs tumbled himself out at the garret or cock-loft window, at which he was shot — our prisoners offering to be qualified to the powder horn and pouch there taken oflhini, which they say he had lately got froin a French officer in exchange for Lieutenant Armstrong's boots, which he carried frorii Fort Granville, where the Heutenant was killed. The same prisoners say they are perfectly as- sured of his scalp, as no other Indians there wore their hair in the same 8o THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. manner. They also say they know his squaw's scalp by a peculiar bob, and also know the scalp 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 the hill above the town, to where a. number of the men and some of the officers were gathered, from whence they had discovered some Indians cross the river and taken the hill, with an intention, they thought, to surround [us asd cut us and our retreat off, from whom I had sundry pressing messages to leave the house and retreat to the hill, or we should all be cut off; but to this I could by no means consent, until all the houses were set on fire ; though our spreading upon the hill appeared very necessary, yet it did pre- vent our researches of the cornfield and riverside, by which sundry scalps were left behind, and doubtless some squaws, children, and English prison- ers, that otherwise might have been got. During the burning of the houses, which were nearly thirty in number, we were agreeably entertained with a quick succession of charged guns gradually firing off, as they were reached by the fire ; but more so with the vast explosion of sundry bags and large kegs of gunpowder, wherewith almost every house abounded. The prisoners afterwards informing that the Indians had frequently said, they had a sufficient stock of ammunition for ten years war with the English. With the roof of Captain Jacob's house, where the powder blew up, was thrown the leg and thigh of an In- dian, with a child of three or four years old, such a height, that they ap- peared as nothing, and fell into the adjacent cornfield. There was also a great quantity of goods burnt, which the Indians had received 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 in the morning had come to our people, informed me that that very day two batteaux of Frenchmen with a large party of Delawares and French Indians were to join Captain Jacobs at Kittanning, and to set out early next morning to take Fort Shir- ley, or as they called it George Croghan's Fori, and that twenty-four warri- ors, who had lately come to town, were sent out before them the evening before, for what purpose they did not know, whether to prepare meat, to DESTRUCTION OF KITTANNING. 8 1 spy the fort, or to make an attack upon some of our back inhabitants. Soon after, upon a little reflection, we were convinced these warriors were all at the fire we had discovered but the night before, and began to doubt the fate of Lieutenant Hogg and his party. From this intelligence of the grisoners, 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, by the advice of the officers it was thought imprudent then to wait 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 apprehension 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 an hour; which apprehen- sions were heightened by the attempt of a few Indians, who, for some time after the march, fired upon each wing, and immediately ran off, from whom we received no other damage but one of our men being wounded through both legs. Captain Mercer being wounded, was induced, as we had reason to believe, by some of his men, to leave the main body with his ensign, John Scott, and ten or twelve men, they being heard tell him that we were in great danger, and that they could take him into the road a nigh way, is probably lost, there being yet no account of him, and most of the men have come in. A detachment was sent back to bring him in, but could not find him ; upon the return of the detachment, it was generally reported he was seen with the above number of men, take a different road. Upon our return to the place where the Indian fire had been discovered the night before, we met with a sergeant of Captain Mercer's company and two or three others of his men, who had deserted us that morning ira- <«nediately after the action at the Kittanning. These men on running away had met Lieutenant Hogg, who lay wounded in two different parts of his body, by the roadside. He there told them of the fatal mistake of the pilot, who had assured us there were three Indians at the most at the fire- place, but when he came to attack them that morning, according to orders. 82 THE FRENCH IN THE 'ALLEGHENY VALLEY. he found a number considerably superior to his, and believes thejf killed, or mortally wounded, thr'ee of them at the first fire. After which a Warm en-'agemeht began, and continued for about an hour, when three of his bfest men were killed, and himself twice wounded, the residue fleeing off- he was obliged to squat in a thicket, where he might have Iain securely until the main body bad come up, if this cowardly sergeant, and others that fled with him, had not taken him away. They had marched but a short space when four Indians appeared, oh Which these deserters began to flee. The lieutenant, then, nothwithstand- ing 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 wounding the lieutenant a third time in the belly, of which he died in a few hours ; but he having some time before been put on horseback, rode some miles from the place of action ; but this last attack of the Indian^ iipon Lieutenant Hogg and the deserters, was by the before mentioned isergeant, represented to us in quite a different light : he telling us that there was a far larger number of the Indians there than appeared to them, and that he and the men had fought five rounds. That he had there seen tlie 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 ofhcers had a great deal to do to keep the men together, but could not prevail with them to collect what horses and other baggage the Indians had left, after their conquest of Lieutenant Hogg and the party under his command in the inorning, except a few of the horses, which some of the bravest of the men were prevailed on to collect. So that from the 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 our 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 there cannot be less than thirty or forty killed and mortally wounded, as much blood was found in sundry parts of the cornfield, and Indians seen in sev- eral places crawl into the woods on hands and feet, whom the soldiers, iii deStrtJctioSt of klTTAkNiNd. 83 pursuit of others, then overlooked, expecting to find and scalp them after- wards, and also several killed and wounded in crossing the river. On beginning our march back, we had about a dozen of scalps, and 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 posiessioh of the men with Captain Mercer, separated from the main body, with whom also went four prisoners ; the other seven being now at this place, where we arrived on Sunday night, not being attacked through our whole march by the enemy, though we expected it every day. tJpdh 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 them could have been performed with greater advan- tage, we had, with Divine assistance, destroyed a much greater number of the enemy, recovered more prisoners, and sustained less damage, than what we at present have. But the advantage gained over these, our common enemies, is far from being satisfactory to us, yet we must not despise the smallest degree of success that Gdd is pleased to give, especially at a time when the attempts of our e*ieinies have been so prevalent and successful, lam sure there was the greatest incUnation to do more, had it been in our power, as the officers and most of the soldiers, throughout the whole action, ixeitid themselves with as much activity and resolution as could possibly be expected. , , Our prisoners inform us the Indians have for ^ome time past tallied of fortifying at the Kittanning and other towns. That the number of French at Fdrt Duqiiesne is about four hundred. That the principal part of their provisions came up the river, from the Mississippi i and that in the three other forts, which the French have on the Oh^o, tha-e are not more men, taken together, that what there are at Fort Duquesne. I hope as soon as possible to receive yoiir Honor's instructions with re- gard to the distribution or stationing of the sundry com^janies, in this bat- talion ; and as a number of the men are now wanting in each of the com- panies, whethei' or no they should' be immediately recruited, and if the Sundry officers are to be recr(iited, that money bp speedily sent for that purpose. 84 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. I beg the favor of your Honor, as soon as possible, to furnish Governor Morris with a copy of this letter, and the gentlemen commissioners for the Province another, as my present indisposition neither admits me to write, or dictate any more at this time! In case a quantity of ammunition is not already sent to Carlisle, it should be sent as soon as possible ; and also, if the companies are to be recruited and completed, there must be an immediate supply of about three hun- dred blankets, as there have been a great many lost in the present expedi- tion. Enclosed is a list of the killed, wounded, and missing of the several companies. I expect to get to Carlisle in about four days. Yours, etc., John Armstrong. To Hon. W. Denny.* Armstrong's losses were seventeen killed, thirteen wounded, and nineteen missing. The prisoners re- covered were Mrs. Anna McCord, Martha Thorn, Barbara Hicks, Catherine Smith, Margaret Hood, Thomas Girty, and Sarah Kelly, besides one woman, a boy, and two little girls who had separated with Captain Mercer's party from the main body, and had not yet arrived at Fort Littleton at the date of Arm- strong's report. As Captain Mercer afterwards got in safe, it it presumed these prisoners were also re- turned to their friends. Colonel Armstrong's successful assault upon one of the enemy's strongholds, filled the colony with * Armstrong's letter is here copied from the History of Western Penn- sylvania, pp. 121-128. It may also be found in the Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. II, where it is printed from the original. DESTRUCTION OF KITTANNING. 85 great rejoicing. The corporation of the city of Philadelphia voted him and his gallant officers their thanks, and ordered the 'sum of one hundred and fifty pounds to be paid out in pieces of plate, swords, or other things suitable for presents to the said officers and towards the relief of the widows and children of those who had fallen.* Armstrong also received a silver medal commemorative of the event. The Indians who escaped fled to Fort Duquesne, where they related the disaster that had befallen them. M. Dumas at once reported the affair to Vaudreuil, the governor-general. His report is interesting, as showing the character that Washing- ton had already acquired with the enemy. The next day after the attack on Kittanning, Dumas writes that "le General Wachinton " with three or four hundred men on horseback attacked Attique ; that the Indians gave way, but under the lead of five or six Frenchmen who were in the town, they were soon rallied ; that Washington and his men then took to flight, and would have been pursued, but for the loss of some barrels of gunpowder that had been exploded during the action, f How nearly the report of Dumas corresponded to the facts in the * History of Western Pennsylvania, p. 129. + Parkman's Montcalm ancb Wolfe, Chapter XIII. 86 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. case, the reader can perceive for himself. As Park- man observes, D|umas, '^ like o1;her officers , of the day, woi;Id a4init nothing^ but supcess in |:l^e depart' nient under bis command. " THE FALl. OFFORT iDUQlTESNE. ^7 THE FALL OF FORT DUQUESNE. After the unfortunate expedition of Gieneral Brad- dock, no further attempt was made, against Fort Duquesne iintil 1758. In the sunimer of that year a new expedition was set on foot. The enterprise was put under the command of General John Forbes, a gallant Scotch, officer. Immediately subordinate tq him were Colonel Henry Bouquet and Colonel George Washington. Forbeg' force consisted of nearly 7,000 men, of whom 1,200 were Highlanders, 350 Royal Americans, 2,700 Pennsylvanians, about 1,606 Virr ginians, and smaller contingents from Maryland and North Carolina.* The southern troops were ordered to assemble at Winchester, Virginina, under Colonel Washington, , the Pennsylvanians at Raystown, now Bedford. To this latter place also Colonel Bouquet marched the *Sparks' Writings of Washington, Vol. II. p. 289, note. 88 THE TRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. regulars, in advance of Forbes.* The general was in ill health, and came after by slow stages. In July, Bouquet was at Raystown ; Washington with the main body of his troops, arrived at about the same time at Fort Cumberland, where he remained several weeks engaged in cutting and repairing roads, and taking such steps as were thought necessary to the success of the enterprise. Forbes, for some reason, determined to cut a new road across the mountains, instead of proceeding by the road that had been made with such labor a few years before by General Braddock. Washington strenuously opposed the making of a new road, for the reasons, as he urged, ' ' of the advanced season, the difficulty of cutting a new road over the mountains^ the short time left for the service, the moral certainty of its obstructing our march, and the consequent mis- carriage of the expedition." f But notwithstanding Washington's earnest opposition, the new road was made. The southern troops were as much opposed as their leader to the new road. A soldier, Robert Mumford, writes from the camp near Fort Cumber- land, August 4, 1758 : •History of Western Pennsylvania, p. 135. + Sparks, Vol. II, p. 311. THE FALL OF FORT DUQUESNE. 89 A few hearty prayers are every minute offered up for those self-interested Pennsylvanians who endeavor to prevail on our general to cut a road for their convenience, from Raystown to Fort Duquesne, that a trifling good to particulars should retard what would conduce to the general welfare I 'Tis a set of dirty Dutchmen, they say, that keeps us here. It would be impertinent to condemn, yet I must think our leaders too deliberate at this important juncture, when all are warm for action, all breathing revenge against an enemy that have even dared to scalp our men before our eyes.+ Washington has been charged with having favored the old road only through sectional prejudice ; but in a letter to his old friend, Major Halket, of Gen- eral Forbes' staff, in speaking of this very matter, he says: " I am uninfluenced by prejudice, having no hopes or fears but for the general good. Of this you may be assured, and that my sincere sentiments are spoken on this occasion." We presume Wash- ington's word is sufficient. His stand was the correct one from a military point of view. The delay in the long run may have proved an advantage to Forbes in the way of exhausting the patience of the enemy, and causing the withdrawal of the red men to their homes ; but that was clearly only incidental, and could not have formed any part of his plan. Though the expedition was finally successful, it had well nigh failed, just as Washington feared it would ; and it was saved from failure almost entirely through + See The Olden Time, Vol. I. p. 285. 9© THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. his exertions. The new road had no point of con- tact with Braddock's. Forbes' road proceeded right, along in a generally northwestern direction from Rays- town to Fort Duquesne ; Braddock's road was far south of this, and they approached nearest at Turtle Creek, where they came within five or six miles of each other. The news of Forbes' expedition was early and widely diffused through the western wilds. The Indians were still faithful to their French allies. James Smith, who had been adopted by them, was at Detroit at this time. He relates that upon receiving the news of the expedition, the French commander at Detroit sent off runners to apprise the tribes, and urge them to repair to Fort Duquesne. In July a general rendezvous of Indians — Ottawas, Jibewas, Potawatomies, and Wyandots was made at Detroit, and shortly afterwards they marched off to Fort Duquesne.* Forbes' movements were very slow, and he did not reach Raystown until the middle of September. Washington came up from Fort Cumberland with his command and joined him here. From Raystown to Loyalhanna, where Ligonier now stands, a distance * See Colonel James Smith's Narrative in Drake's Indian Captivities, P- 333- THE FALL OF FORT DUQUESNE. 9I of about fifty miles, the road had been opened by- Colonel James Burd. Upon his arrival at Loyal- hanna, Colonel Burd built a small stockade fort, which was afterward called Fort Ligonier. Forbes' health continued to decline, and he had to be carried through the wilderness in a litter. He was fifty days in getting from Raystown to Loyalhanna. Meantime, Washington chafed with impatience. " We shall be stopped at the Laurel Hill this winter," he writes, ' ' but not to gather laurels, except of the kind that covers the mountains." f The season had advanced into the month of November before Forbes had ar- rived at Loyalhanna. There remained still fifty miles of wilderness to be traversed before he could reach Fort Duquesne. The rigor of an early winter was already setting in. The forebodings of Washington seemed on the eve of realization. The expedition was to be a failure. At a council of war that was called, upon Forbes' arrival at Lo3'alhanna, it was determined to go into winter quarters at that point. A circumstance, slight in itself, shortly afterward caused this decision to be recalled, and an advance movement to be made. Before the arrival of Forbes at Loyalhanna, Colo- nel Bouquet had sent forward Major Grant with a t Sparks, Vol. II. p. 301. 92 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. detachment of eight hundred men, mostly Highlan- ders* of Montgomery's division, and Virginians of Colonel Washington's regiment, to make a reconnoi- sance of the fort. Grant conducted the movement very successfully, and in the night of the thirteenth of September he reached the hill just back of Fort Duquesne. His approach had not been diseeajered by the enemy. He had been informed that the; gar- rison was in a very feeble condition ; he did notrknow that large reinforcements under D'Aubry had very recently arrived from the west. Grant was inflamed with the thought of capturing the place himself. At daybreak of the fourteenth of September, he stood on the hill which is still called by his name, in plain view of the fort. Instead, however, of concentra- ting his troops to make an assault or withstand an attack, he dispersed them in bodies in a most unac- countable manner, to different parts of the neighbor- hood. Captain Thomas Bullitt had been left with a party of Virginians two miles in the rear, to guard the baggage. Colonel Lewis was now sent back with a detachment to join Bullitt. A party of Pennsyl- * The Highlanders in the King's service in the French and Indian war were almost exterminated. "Of the old Highland regiment, consisting of twelve hundred, only seventy-six survived to see their country again." Dr. Johnson's Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland : " Ostig in Sky." THE FALL OF FORT DUQUESNE. 93 vanians were posted away off on the right towards the Allegheny ; Captain Mackenzie, with a body of Highlanders, was sent off towards the left, while Captain Macdonald, with another party of Highlan- ders, was ordered into the open plain in front of the fort. Grant himself remained on the hill with a small portion of his own regiment and a company of Maryland men.* The party under Captain Macdon- ald approached the fort with the bag-pipes in full blast and the drums beating, as an invitation to the enemy to come out of his stronghold. The enemy accepted the invitation very readily, and swarmed out in overwhelming numbers. They fell upon one detachment of Grant's army after another, killing and wounding a great many, and utterly defeating them. A number in attempting to make their escape were drowned in the river. Grant himself was taken prisoner. Colonel Lewis, hearing the state of affairs, now hurried forward to the assistance of Grant, but only to share the same fate. Grant's men fell rapidly back to where Captain Bullitt was guarding the bag- gage. But for the gallant stand made by the Vir- ginians under his command, Grant's army would *Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe, Chapter XXII. For Grant's conduct at Fort Duquesne, see also a letter dated at Annapolis, October, 5, 1758, reprinted from the Pennsylvania Gazette in The Olden Time, Volume \. p. 179. 94 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. have been annihilated. The Virginians covered the retreat, and brought the exultant enemy to bay. " Our officers and men," wrote Washington to Gov- ernor Fauquier, "have gained very great applause for their gallant behavior during the action. I had the honor to be publicly complimented yesterday by the general on the occasion. Bullitt's behavior is matter for great admiration." Grant's loss was 273 men. Of the prisoners, five were surrendered by the French officers to the savages to be burned at the stake, and others were cruelly tomahawked on the spot. * The Indians had boasted that they would bag Forbes' army as they had done Braddock's, and they were much mortified when they found that they had permitted Grant to reach the fort unperceived. But his peculiar tactics in front of the fort puzzled them, and they could account for his conduct in only one way. " When Tecaughretanego had heard the par- ticulars of Grant's defeat," says James Smith, "hesaid that he could not well acount for his contradictory and inconsistent conduct. He said, as the art of war consists in ambushing and surprising our enemies, and in preventing them from ambushing and surpris- ing us. Grant, in the first place, acted like a wise and * Captain Haslet to Rev. Dr. Alison, November 26, 1758. THE FALL OF FORT DUQUESNE. gS experienced warrior in artfully approaching in the night without being discovered ; but when he came to the place, and the Indians were lying asleep out- side of the fort, between him and the Allegheny river, in place of slipping up quietly and falling upon them with their broadswords, they beat the drums and played upon the bagpipes. He said he could account for this inconsistent conduct in no other way than by supposing that he had made too free with spirituous liquors during the night, and became intoxicated about daylight."* The French promptly retaliated Grant's attempt upon Fort Duquesne, by appearing before the camp at Loyalhanna. On the twelfth of October they attacked the place. They were about fourteen hun- dred strong, and were commanded by De Vetri. The assault upon the post was continued for about four hours, with great fury and determination ; but the enemy was at length compelled to retire with consid- erable loss. After nightfall the attack was renewed, but a few well directed shells thrown among them had the effect of dispersing them. Bouquet's loss was sixty-seven men killed and wounded. -f- * Colonel James Smith's Narrative, p. 234. + History of Western Pennsylvania, pp. 138, 139, note. g& THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. After this unsuccessful affair, the Indians gave up the idea of destroying the army of Forbes as they had destroj'-ed that of Braddock. They said that the enemy was beginning to understand the art of war, that there were a great many American riflemen along with the red-coats, who scattered out, took trees, and were good marksmen. The French tried to prevail upon them to remain and try another bat- tle, but they refused. "The Indians said if it was only the red-coats they had to do with," says Colonel Smith, "they could soon subdue them, but they could not withstand Ashalecoa, or the Great Knife, which was the name they gave the Virginians." The slight circumstance that caused Forbes to reconsider his determination to winter at Loyalhanna, and decide to make an onward movement, was the capture of three prisoners. These prisoners con- firmed the report of the feeble condition of the garri- son at Fort Duquesne. The western Indians had returned to their homes. The Indians of the neigh- borhood had been shaken in their loyalty to the French, mainly through the efforts of Christian Frederick Post. The French reinforcements had also returned to their former quarters. De Ligneris, at Fort Duquesne, found himself reduced to but about five hundred men. THE FALL OF FORT DUQUESNE. 97 Forbes determined upon a rapid movement. On the eighteenth of November a picked force of 2500 men set forward. The baggage, stores, wagons, and all the artillery except a few light pieces, were left behind. The soldiers carried only their knapsacks and blankets. Washington solicited for his Virginians the place of danger and honor in the front. " If any argument is needed to obtain this favor," he urged, " I hope without vanity I may be allowed to say, that, from long intimacy with these woods, and fre- quent scouting in them, my men are at least as well acquainted with all the passes and difficulties as any troops that will be employed."* His request was granted, and he led his regiment forward to open the road, and act as pioneers to the main body of the army. On the twenty-fourth of November the army reached Turtle Creek, within ten miles of Fort Du- quesne, where they encamped. In the night a violent explosion was heard to the westward, which indicated either some serious accident, or some desperate step on the part of the enemy. The spirits of the men revived, and they looked forward eagerly to the con- summation of their arduous toils the next day. In the morning a dense cloud of smoke in the direction of • Sparks, Vol, I, p. 99. 98 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. Fort Duquesne indicated that the enemy had set the buildings on fire, and a party of horsemen were sent on in advance to extinguish the flames. The army also resumed its march, but it was not until evening that they emerged from the forests upon the open plain in front of Fort Duquense. Instead of a frowning fortress they found only a smoking ruin. The enemy had fled. The magazine had been ex- ploded the evening before, and the buildings set on fire.* Only blackened and smoking ruins were left to welcome them. But that was enough. The cheers of the rejoicing soldiers woke the echoes, and the hand of the gallant Colonel Armstrong, the hero of Kittanning, raised the banner of King George upon the staff" from which had long floated the ensign of France. Three days later Washington wrote "to Governor Fauquier : 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 24th instant. The enemy, after letting us get within a day's march of the place, burnt the fort * Three days before this the French had uncovered the houses at Fort Duquesne, and laid the roofs around the fort to set it on fire, and made ready to go off. — See Post's Second Journal, November 22, 1758. THE FALL OF FORT DUQUESNE. 99 and ran away by the light of it, at night, going down the Ohio by water, f The fall of Fort Duquesne caused great rejoicing on the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia. It was impossible that there should be peace or security on the frontier so long as it remained in the hands of the enemy. ' ' The great advantages that will attend this success of his majesty's arms," wrote Governor Denny of Pennsylvania, "will be sensibly felt by all the British colonies, but none so much as this province, whose inhabitants have been the most ex- posed to the incursions and cruelties of the French and their allies, from that quarter." The fall of this renowned stronghold destroyed the influence of the French in that region, and secured to the Anglo- Saxon race the domination of the Ohio valley for all time to come. + Sparks, Vol. IL, p. 320. 100 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. FORT PITT. The day following the fall of Fort Duquesne was observed by Forbes' army as a day of public thanksgiving for their success. Two days later, a detachment proceeded to the field that had witnessed Braddock's defeat, to inter the remains of those who had fallen in the great disaster. The field presented a ghastly appearance. " Here and there," says Ban- croft, ' ' a skeleton was found resting on the trunk of a fallen tree, as if a wounded man had sunk down in the attempt to fly. In some places wolves and crows had left signs of their ravages ; in others, the black- ness of ashes marked the scene of the revelry of cannibals. The trees still showed branches rent by ■cannon ; trunks dotted with musket balls. Where the havoc had been the fiercest, bones lay whit- ening in confusion. None could be recognized, except that the son of Sir Peter Halket was called by the shrill whistle of a savage to the great FORT PITT. lOI tree near which his father and his brother had been seen to fall together ; and while Benjamin West and a company of Pennsylvanians formed a circle around, the Indians removed the thick covering of leaves till they bared the relics of the youth lying across those of the older officer. The frames of the two thus united in death were wrapped in a High- land plaid and consigned to one separate grave, amidst the ceremonies that belong to the burial of the brave. The bones of the undistinguished multi- tude, more than four hundred and fifty in number, were indiscriminately cast into the ground, no one knowing for whom specially to weep. The chilling gloom of the forest at the coming of winter, the reli- gious awe that mastered the savages, the grief of the son fainting at the fearful recognition of his father, the group of soldiers sorrowing over the ghastly ruins of an army, formed a sombre scene of deso- lation."! The first necessity of the time was a place of shelter and defence for the troops. Accordingly, a small stockade fort was built near the bank of the Monon- gahela, several hundred yards above the ruins of Fort Duquesne. This fortification was named Fort Pitt, and the place was named Pittsburg. It took this + Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. IV. p. 312. 102 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. name from the start, as we find Christian Frederick Post referring to it by this designation within a few days after the English occupation.* Two hundred Virginia troops were directed to remain as a garrison, by the express orders of General Forbes. Washing- ton opposed this on the ground that his men had already done their full share of duty in the campaign ; but Forbes said he had no authority to leave any of his majesty's troops for this purpose, and, as the site of the fort was then generally believed to be within the borders of Virginia, it was only proper that Vir- ginia troops should hold the place, f Colonel Hugh Mercer, of Virginia, a Scotchman by birth, who after- ward laid down his life at Princeton, during the Revo- lutionary war, was left in command of the garrison at Fort Pitt. General Forbes shortly afterwards set out on his return to the east. His health continued very feeble, and he was borne in a litter, as he had come. He arrived in Philadelphia on the seventeenth of Jan- uary, 1759, and died there on the eleventh of the following March. His remains were interred in the chancel of Christ Church.J He had been bred a physician ; but afterward turned his attention to ♦ " We came within eight miles of Pittsburg, where we lodged on a hill in the open air." — Post's yournal, December 2, 1738. + Sparks' Writings of Washington, Vol. I. p. 102. I Craig's History of Pittsburg, p. 79. FORT PITT. 103 military affairs, and rose to the position of brigadier- general in his majesty's service. He was brave and capable ; but in the campaign against Fort Duquesne he had labored throughout under a painful disease, which rendered it almost impossible at times for him to move at all, and under which almost any other man would have resigned the toils and responsibili- ties of so grave a duty. The fall of Fort Duquesne had an immediate effect upon the Indians. The Delawares at once began to sue for peace. Washington, writing from the camp, November 28, says: "A trade, free, open, and on equitable terms, is what they seem much to desire." About the beginning of December, Washington set out on his return to Virginia, and he writes to Gov- ernor Fauquier, from Loyalhanna, December 2, that " unless the most effectual means shall be taken early in the spring to reinforce the garrison, the place will inevitably be lost, and then our frontiers will fall into the same distressed condition as heretofore. I can very confidently assert that we never can secure them properly, if we again lose our footing on the Ohio, since we shall thereby lose the interest of the In- dians."* Washington proceeded to Mt. Vernon and thence to Williamsburg, while his troops marched to * Sparks, Vol, II. p. 323. 104 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. Winchester, where they went into winter quarters. Washington received unqualified praise from all sources for his services and soldierly conduct during this campaign. Colonel Bouquet was appointed to the charge of affairs on the border. He established and maintained posts at Raystown, Loyalhanna, and Fort Pitt, and later extended the line on westward to Sandusky and Detroit. The original Fort Pitt was finished about the first of January, 1759. It was but a temporary structure. The French and Indians had not retreated far : some had gone down the river to the villages on the Beaver, and the rest had retired to the posts at Venango and LeBoeuf They maintained a threat- ening attitude towards Fort Pitt, and the little garri- son crouching behind the feeble bulwarks, were in daily apprehension of attack. Only the inclemency of the season saved them. Upon the death of General Forbes, General John Stanwix was appointed as his successor. General Stanwix arrived at Fort Pitt in the early summer of 1759. Under his direction a more secure fortification was made — a fort was erected which, in the language of a letter of that day, would, "to latest posterity, secure the British empire on the Ohio." This work is said to have cost the government the sum of sixty FORT PITT. lOS thousand pounds sterling. This is manifestly greatly exaggerated. Many Indians of different nations came in during that summer, to confirm the peace with the English. They " confessed the errors 'they had been led into by the perfidy of the French ; showed the deepest contrition for their past conduct, and promised not only to remain fast friends to the English, but to assist us in distressing the common enemy whenever we should call on them to do it."* From a letter dated at Pittsburg, March 21, 1760, we learn that the new and more formidable Fort Pitt was by that time "perfected." The works extended "from the Ohio to the Monongahela, and eighteen pieces of artillery mounted on the bastions that cover the isthmus ; and casements, barracks, and store- houses are also completed for a garrison of one thou- sand men and officers, so that it may now be asserted with very great truth, that the British dominion is established on the Ohio." To describe the fort more particularly, it was a five-sided work, though the sides were not all equal. The earth around the proposed work was dug and thrown up so as to enclose the selected position with a rampart of earth. On the two sides facing the country, this rampart * Craig's History of Pittsburg, p. 84. Io6 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. was supported by what military men call a revetmertt — a brick work, nearly perpendicular, supporting the rampart on the outside, and thus presenting an obsta- cle to the enemy not easily overcome. On the other three sides, the earth in the rampart had no support, and of course it presented a more inclined surface to the enemy — one which could readily be ascended. To remedy, in some degree, this defect in the work, a line of pickets was fixed on the outside of the foot of the slope of the rampart. Around the whole work was a wide ditch which would of course be filled with water when the river was at a moderate stage.* In April, 1760, General Stanwix returned to Philadelphia. The garrison then at Fort Pitt consisted of one hun- dred and fifty Virginians, one hundred and fifty Pennsylvanians, and four hundred Royal Americans, all commanded by Major Tulikens. While the work of building Fort Pitt was going on, the garrison there had not been assailed by the French. But they had been in great danger of an attack. In the summer of 1759 all the necessary preparations had been made at Venango for a de- scent upon Fort Pitt. Two Indian spies, who had returned from Venango on the fifteenth of July, re- ported to Colonel Mercer that there were at Venango • The Olden Time, Vol. I. p. 196. FORT PITT. 107 about seven hundred French and four hundred In- dians. Six hundred more Indians were expected very soon. In fact, these reinforcements had mostly arrived, artillery and provisions' were collected, and all 'the preparations were completed for the descent, when a message from the north caused a stop to be put to the proceedings. " I have had bad news," said the commandant to the Indians ; ' ' the English have gone against Niagara. We must give over thoughts of going down the river till we have cleared that place of the enemy. If it is taken, our road to you is stopped and you must become poor." This expected attack filled the feeble garrison at Fort Pitt with great forebodings. "I must own," wrote Mr. John Ormsby, one of the garrison, "I made my sincere application to the Almighty to pardon my sins and extricate us from this deplorable dilemma. Our prayers were heard, and we extri- cated from the dreadful massacre ; for the day before the. expected attack an Indian fellow arrived from Niagara, informing Colonel Mercer that General Johnson laid siege to Niagara with a formidable En- glish army, so that the attack upon Fort Pitt was countermanded, and the French and Indians ordered to return towards Niagara with the utmost haste."* * See Craig's History of Pitisiurg, p. 83. Io8 jTHE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. This investment of Niagara was made by the English under General Prideaux and Sir William Johnson. D'Aubry collected a force of about twelve hundred men from Detroit, Erie, LeBceuf, and Venango, and hurried off to the aid of the French ; but they were met by the English, beaten in a severe battle and dispersed. On the twenty-fifth of July, Fort Niagara was surrendered to the English, and the French power in western New York and the Ohio valley was destroyed. Thereafter there was no danger to Fort Duquesne from that source. The victory of the British at Niagara was so decisive that the oiificer and troops sent by General Stanwix from Pittsburg took possession of the French posts as far as Erie without resistance.* One point after another was lost by the French, until their authority in North America was laid prostrate in the dust. Finally, in February, 1763, a treaty of peace was made at Paris. By this treaty it was stipulated : ' ' That France shall cede to Great Britain, Canada in its utmost extent ,with the islands of St. John and Cape Breton, and all that part of Louisiana which lies on this side of the Mis- sissippi, except the town of New Orleans and its territory, "t * Bancroft's U. S., Vol. IV, p. 322. + Russell's Modern Europe, Vol. II, p. 576. FORT PITT. 109 The garrison at Fort Pitt was continued until the year 1772. " As the difficulties between the mother country and the colonies increased," says Craig, "the British government deemed it advisable to order the abandonment of Fort Pitt, and the with- drawal of the troops from this place." Consequently, in October, 1772, Major Charles Edmonston, in behalf of the Crown, "for and in consideration of the sum of fifty pounds. New York currency, to him in hand paid," sold to Alexander Ross and William Thompson, "all the pickets, bricks, stones, timber, and iron, which are now in the buildings or walls of the said fort, and in the redoubts." * After the sale and abandoment of Fort Pitt, a corporal and three men remained for some time to take care of the boats and batteaux intended to keep up communication with the Illinois country. The fort being thus abandoned, one John Connolly, a man of much energy and talent, but without principle, came up from Virginia, about the end of the year 1773 or beginning of 1774, having authority from Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, and took pos- session of the fort, calling it Fort Dunmore ; and as captain commandant of the militia, he issued his proclamation, summoning the people to assemble as *Th« Olden Time, Vol. I. p. 95. no THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. a militia at Pittsburg, on the twenty-fifth of January, 1774* No vestige of Fort Pitt now remains upon the ground except a redoubt built by Colonel Bouquet in 1764. This is a small brick building about sixteen feet square, which still stands at the Point. It is shamefully neglected, whereas it should be cherished as the most interesting and the only historic building in Pittsburg. It is the sole surviving relic of British rule in western Pennsylvania. It formerly bore a tablet attesting its builder and its date, but this plate has been removed, and has been placed in the wall of the City Hall, just at the top of the first flight of stairs. The inscription reads : "A. D. 1764. Coll. Bouquet." * The Olden Time, Vol, I. p. 437 ; Colonial Records, Vol. X. p. 144. THE SIEGE OF FORT PITl. Ill THE SIEGE OF FORT PITT. The western Indians were far from satisfied with the result of the French war ; and Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawas, set about forming an Indian confederacy against the English. He had conceived a profound contempt for the British soldiery, and beheved that by a united effort the Enghsh could be driven east of the Alleghenies, if not expelled entirely from the continent. He was shrewd, eloquent, and brave, and by the spring of the year 1763, he had succeeded in uniting no less than eighteen powerful tribes against the enemy. His proceedings were conducted with the most complete secrecy, and with three exceptions — Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Niagara — all the English posts on the frontier fell into the hands of the Indians with little or no resistance. Yet this dreadful uprising of the savages had not come alto- gether unheralded, if we are to believe the ancient chronicler. At Detroit and through the surrounding 112 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. country, in July, 1762, it rained "a sulphureous water " of the color and consistency of ink, and which, being collected in bottles, "answered every purpose of that useful liquid." "Soon after," con- tinues this ingenuous writer, "the Indian wars already spoken of broke out in these parts. I iftean not to say that this incident was ominous of them, notwith- standing it is well known that innumerable well at- tested instances of extraordinary phenomena, hap- pening before extraordinary events, have been recorded in almost every age by historians of ver- acity. I only relate the circumstance as a fact, of which I was informed by many persons of undoubted probity, and leave my readers to draw their own conclusions from it."* Captain Simeon Ecuyer, a gallant Swiss, was in charge at Fort Pitt. In the beginning of May, 1763, he wrote to Colonel Bouquet, saying that Major Glad- wyn, at Detroit, had sent him notice that Fort Pitt was surrounded by rascally Indians. Complaint was specially made of the Delawares and Shawanese. ' ' It is this canaille," writes Gladwyn, " who stir up the rest to mischief." In the course of the month, the conduct of the Indians in the vicinity of the fort be- • Three Years' Travels, etc., by Captain Jonathan Carver, page 96. Carver's visit to Detroit was in the summer of 1768. THE SIEGE OF FORT PITT. II3 came suspicious. On the evening of the twenty- seventh, Ecuyer was informed by Mr. McKee that the Mingoes and Delawares were in motion, and that they had sold skins to the value of ;^300, with which they had purchased a ^rge supply of powder and lead. On the twenty-eighth, McKee was sent to the Indian towns to gather information, but he found them entirely abandoned. On the twenty-ninth, just as he was finishing his letter — the last letter that he was able to get through the lines for more than two months — Ecuyer says that three men who had been working near Clapham's, in the neighborhood of the fort, had just got in with the sad news that the Indians had " murdered Clapham and everybody in his house."* On the heels of this bad news came in such traders as had escaped the violence of the savages, with reports of the murder and pillage of many of their brethren. Ecuyer at once set to work to put the fort in the best possible state of defence. The families living about the fort were gathered within its walls, and the houses outside were destroyed. A fire-engine was constructed. A hospital was fitted up under the draw-bridge. Provisions were collected, and every- body capable of handling a musket was armed for * Letter of Captain Ecuyer to Colonel Bouquet, May 29, 1763. 114 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. the conflict. Ecuyer's force consisted of three hundred and thirty men — soldiers, traders, and backwoodsmen. There were in the fort also about one hundred women and a still greater number of children. "We have plenty of provisions," writes one from the fort, " and the fort is in such a good posture of defence, that, with God's assistance, we can defend it against a thousand Indians." For some days after actual hostilities began, the Indians contented themselves with skulking in the neighborhood, and shooting any person who might be rash enough to expose himself, and in this way several persons were slain. In the afternoon of the twenty-third of June, a general fire was opened on the fort from all sides, and two men were killed. A discharge of large guns among the savages put a stop to the assault, but a desultory fire was kept up all night. The next morning several Indians approached the fort, and one of them named Turtle Heart, addressed the garrison in terms of the greatest friendliness. He informed them that six great nations of Indians had taken up the hatchet. "You mustleave this fort," said he, "with all your women and children, and go down to the English settlements, where you will be safe. There are many bad Indians already here," he continued, " but THE SIEGE OF FORT PITT. 115- we will protect you from them." The purpose of this cajollery was too evident ; and Captain Ecuyer replied : ' ' We have plenty of provisions, and are able to keep the fort against all the nations of Indians that may dare to attack it. We are very well off in this place, and mean to stay here." There was now a lull of some weeks "in the proceedings, though the fort was still watched by the enemy with the utmost vigilance, and all communication with the outside world was entirely cut off. Several messen- gers who had attempted to pass through were killed or compelled to return wounded. It was not until towards the close of July that any serious attempt was again made upon the fort. On the twenty-sixtb of that month, a delegation of chiefs came to the fort with a flag, and were admitted. They made a long recital of their grievances, represented the dangers to which the English were exposed, and again urged them to depart. " If you leave this place immedi- ately," said they, " and go home to your wives and children, no harm will come of it ; but if you stay, you must blame yourselves alone for what may happen." To this Ecuyer replied: "I have war- riors, provisions, and ammunition to defend the fort three years against all the Indians in the woods ; and we shall never abandon it as long as a white man lives Il6 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. in America. Moreover, I tell you that if any of you appear again about this fort, I will throw bomb shells which will burst and blow you to atoms, and fire cannon among you loaded with a whole bag full of bullets. Therefore, take care, for I don't want to hurt you." This bravado on the part of Ecuyer was all well enough, as a fair offset to the bluster of the Indians ; but the chiefs retired from the fort very much dis- pleased. That night a fierce attack was made on the fort. The savages secreted themselves in burrows which they made under the banks of the river, in which they were entirely protected from the fire of the garrison. From their hiding-places they kept up a constant fire for several days. They also dis- charged burning arrows, in hopes of setting the build- ings on fire ; but in this they failed. Their incessant yelling filled the women and children with terror. Their fire was not very damaging. No one was killed; seven men were wounded, among them Ecuyer himself, who received a wound in the leg from an arrow. On the side of the Indians were twenty killed and wounded to the certain knowledge of Ecuyer, besides, as he believed, a number whom he could not see.' Ecuyer's men behaved well. " I am fortu- nate to have the honor of commanding such brave THE SIEGE OF FORT PITT. II7 men, " he said. The garrison was safe from the attack ; but if the siege should be long continued, starvation must compel them to capitulate at last, or attempt the desperate chance of cutting their way through the savage host. It was impossible to communicate with the outer world, and the brave officer must at times have felt alarm at his isolated position and the number and pertinacity of his foes. But relief, unknown to him, was on its way. Col- onel Bouquet, in command of a small army, was moving slowly forward to the relief of the beleagured garrison. The whole frontier had been thrown into a state of confusion and alarm. The savage ma- rauders had swept over the country almost un- checked, marking their path with slaughter and fire. July thirteenth Bouquet writes : "The list of the people known to be killed increases very fast." The terri- fied survivors crowded into the small frontier towns, where they suffered greatly from hunger and ex- posure. Bouquet set out on his march from Carlisle with a force of about five hundred men, consisting mainly of the Royal Highlanders, Montgomery's Highland- ers, and a company of Royal Americans. The Highlanders had just landed from the West Indies, where they had suffered severely from the climate, Il8 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. and were in a very enfeebled condition. Sixty of them were so ill that they were not able to march, and were taken along in wagons. While they could not be of service in the field, it was thought they might perform garrison duty. On^ the twenty-fifth of July, Bouquet reached Fort Bedford. On the second of August he arrived at Fort Ligonier. This place was about fifty miles from Fort Pitt. It had been repeatedly assailed by the savages within the last few weeks, but the garrison, with the aid of the settlers who had fled to it for protection, had been able^ to hold the place. Bouquet had been very anxious about Fort Ligonier, as upon its safety depended largely the success of his expedition. Some Indians had been hanging about the fort, but upon the approach of Bouquet they disappeared in the forest. Bouquet determined to lighten his march by leav- ing here his oxen and wagons, and push forward for Fort Pitt. On the fourth of August he left Fort Ligonier, and marched about twelve miles, when he encamped for the night. The next day he resumed his march, and in the early afternoon he reached a point within half a mile of Bushy Run, where he intended to halt until evening. He had marched seventeen miles. The day had been extremely hot;,. THE SIEGE OF FORT PITT. II9 and the weary and thirsty men were looking forward eagerly to the much needed rest and refreshment which they had been promised. All at once the horrid war-whoop and the crack of numerous rifles in front startled the unsuspecting column. The silence at Fort Pitt on the fifth day of August was ominous. Not an Indian was to be seen. Nc sounds broke the stillness of the summer air. Ecuyer closely beleagured for weeks, had received no intelli- gence of Bouquet's march, and was at a loss to account for the abandonment of the siege. He had no notion, however, that it boded any good to the garrison, and so was not elated or thrown off his guard. He looked for the storm to burst upon him again with redoubled fury. The savages had indeed raised the siege, at least for the time being, and had gone off to intercept the march of Bouquet. They were no doubt animated by the recollection of Braddock's defeat a few years before, and anticipated as certain a victory now. Bouquet was marching over the road made by Gen- eral Forbes in 1758. Although he had left at Fort Ligonier all the impedimenta possible, he still had with him a train of three hundred and forty pack horses laden with flour and other supplies for Fort Pitt. By a little after noon on the fifth of August, 120 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. as we have seen, he had reached a point within half a mile of Bushy Run, and about twenty-four miles from the place of his destination. At once upon the opening of the firing on his front. Bouquet pushed forward reinforcements. The Indians kept themselves well hidden behind the trees, and did not expose themselves to the fire of the soldiers. The troops fell thick and fast. Only a dozen miles away the bones of Braddock's unfortunate men were moldering into dust, and apprehensions of a similar fate chilled the blood of Bouquet's bravest. The soldiers made frequent charges upon the enemy, but the latter fled into the woods and eluded the glittering bayonet. As soon as the troops fell back to their positions, the Indians again encircled them with their deadly fire. Hour^ after hour elapsed, and the un- equal contest went on. The fierce yells of the Indians and the cries of the wounded mingled with the con- tinuous rattle of arms. The pack horses were unloaded, and a rampart was formed of the sacks of flour, behind which were placed the wounded. To the oppressive heat of the day, wounds, and alarm, were added the tortures of thirst. The hillsides around them were bursting with springs of delicious water, but the savages guarded them closely and cut off all access to them. Night at length enveloped THE SIEGE OF FORT PITT. 121 the scene, and put a temporary stop to the fierce conflict. More than sixty men had been killed and wounded, among them several officers. The wearied soldiers could get but little rest or sleep. All around them were the blood-thirsty savages, hemming thenl in, and only waiting for day to renew the slaughter.. The frightful war-whoop, and the report of the mur~ derous rifle, whenever the sleepless red man perceived in the gloom the object of his hate, rang through the forest, and kept the panting host in a state of alarm and wakefulness. If the Indians counted upon an easy victory, they reckoned falsely. Bouquet was a different man from Braddock. He understood thor- oughly the Indian character, and was as brave as the bravest. That night, by the dim and half-hidden light, he wrote to Sir Jeffery Amherst an account of the day's conflict. How he got or proposed to get the letter through the cordon of savages, we do not know. " Whatever our fate may be," he wrote, "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 effectual relief of Fort Pitt, as in case of another engagement, I fear insurmount- able difficulties in protecting and transporting our provisions, being already so weakened by the losses 122 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. of this day in men and horses, besides the additional necessity of carrying the wounded, whose situation is truly deplorable." With the early dawn the unequal combat was resumed. The savages resorted to the same tactics as on the day before. " They would never stand their ground when attacked," says Parkman, " but vanish at the first gleam of the leveled bayonet, only to appear again the moment the danger was past." Thus the troops, wearied with the toils of the pre- ceding day, maddened with thirst, and unable to fix the object of attack, were discouraged and almost in despair. Bouquet perceived that some different method must be taken. He believed that if he could but get the Indians to stand their ground he could defeat them. It was now pointed out to him where, by a certain movement, a large body of the boldest of the savages could be taken at advantage. Ac- cordingly, he ordered two companies of Highlanders to retire from the iine and fall back within the circle. The wings then extended themselves across the in- tervening space, as if to cover the apparent retreat. The savages, thinking that a retreat was really taking place, and now^sure of their prey, rushed upon the weakened part of the line with shouts and yells, but THE SIEGE OF FORT PITT. 1 23 were stubbornly resisted. At the same moment, the two companies of Highlanders, under Major ^amp- bell, who for that purpose had been sent around the hill unobserved by the enemy, fell furiously upon their flank. " They resolutely returned the fire," says Bouquet, " 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. " They were pursued by the infuriated troops, and completely broken up and chased away. No time was lost. The wounded were at once car- ried forward to Bushy Run and their necessities as carefully attended to as possible. Here, however, ten of the wounded died. Many of the pack horses having broken away during the battle. Bouquet was compelled to destroy a large part of the suppHes which he was taking to the fort. At Bushy Run the Indians again attempted an attack, but they were soon dispersed. Except a few scattered shots along the way, Bouquet was no further molested by them. After the fight, sixty Indian corpses were counted upon the ground. Bouquet's loss had been one hundred and fifteen men in killed, wounded, and missing. After night the Indians returned to the battle-field and scalped the dead. The next day the screeching mul- 124 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. titude mariihed past Fort Pitt, shaking the gory- trophies at the walls.* After resting and recruiting their strength at Bushy- Run, the army set forward again, and on the tenth of August arrived at Fort Pitt. We may easily con- ceive the rejoicing that their arrival must have caused among the people who had so long been confined to the narrow hmits of their walls, and, no doubt, had nearly given themselves up for lost.f ** Colonel Henry Bouquet and his Campaigns, by Rev. Cyrus Cort; p. 43. + The scene of Bouquet's hard won victory is on what is called the Har- rison City road, about two miles north of Penn Station, on the Pennsyl- vania Railroad. The one hundred and twentieth anniversary of the battle was celebrated on the ground with suitable ceremonies on the sixth of August, 1883. THE NORTHERN POSTS. - 1 25 THE NORTHERN POSTS. North of Fort Pitt, within the bounds of Pennsyl- vania, were three British forts — Venango, Le Bceuf, and Presqu' Isle. These had all been established by the French, but had come into the hands of the English soon after the fall of Fort Duquesne, and were confirmed to them by the treaty of Paris. They were all small affairs, and but little able to sustain any very serious attempt of an enemy. Fort Venango was at the mouth of French Creek, about seventy-five miles north of Fort Pitt. Fort Le Bceuf was some forty miles a little west of north from Venango, and Fort Presqu' Isle was about fifteen miles due north of Le Boeuf. Of the three posts, Presqu' Isle was the most formidable. The latter and Fort Le Bceuf had been built by Monsieur Morin in the summer of 1753. The Indians for some time strenuously objected to the building of a fort at the mouth of French Creek, but the blandish- iz6 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. ments of the crafty Joncaire at length prevailed. On the return of the French forces to Canada in the fall of I7S3, he was allowed to remain upon the spot with a few soldiers. Washington, in his famous visit to the northern posts in the winter of that year, found him there ensconced in the house from which John Frazier, the Indian trader, had fled upon the approach of Celoron some years before. The Indians seem to have eventually withdrawn their objections, for in the early spring of 1754 the French constructed a small fort upon the coveted spot, which they named Fort Machault. This fort the English called Venango. Still later another military work occupied the same site, which was named Fort Franklin. In the month of June, 1763, Ensign Christie was in command at Presqu' Isle, Ensign Price at Le Bceuf, and Lieutenant Gordon at Venango. The garrison at Presqu' Isle consisted of twenty-seven men. Early in the morning of June 15, about two hundred Indians appeared before the fort. The garrison immediately betook themselves to the block- house, which was large and well adapted to resist an ordinary Indian attack. The savages at once assailed the building. The assault was fierce and persistent, and carried on with more than usual skill, as the THE NORTHERN POSTS. I27 savages seem to have been directed by a soldier who had been made prisoner early in the French and Indian war, "and had since lived among the sav- ages, and now espoused their cause, fighting with them against his own countrymen. "* Ensign Chris- tie resisted bravely the assaults of the Indians. The block-house was repeatedly set on fire, but as often the jflames -were extinguished. The savages now approached the block-house by a trench which they dug, and prepared to undermine and blow up the building. Christie saw that all hope of further suc- cessful resistance was vain, and he agreed to terms of capitulation on the morning of the seventeenth. The Indians promised that the garrison should retire unmolested ; but no sooner were the soldiers in their hands, than they began to plunder them, "and they had good cause to be thankful," says Parkman, "that they were not butchered on the spot." They were detained several days at Presqu' Isle and then taken to Detroit. Ensign Christie here had the good fortune to escape from the hands of his savage captors, and find his way into the fort at that place. Two of Christie's men, at the capitulation, darted * Parkman's Conspiracy of Pontiac, Chap. XIII. No one can write Upon the history of those times without owning an indebtedness to the masterly volumes of Parkman. 128 THE TfRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. into the forest and disappeared. One of them, a Scotch soldier named Benjamin Gray, arrived, hag;- gard and worn, at Fort Pitt on the twenty-sixth of the month. He had been eight days on the way. Fortunately for him he arrived just in a lull of the tempest that had raged around Fort Pitt. The sav- ages who had been investing that post had gone off to meet a large body of their allies who were coming from the west, and thus Gray entered its gates unharmed. He reported the attack on Fort Presqu' Isle, and the capitulation ; but having heard a woman scream out, he said, he suspected they were murdering her, and he had hastened away.* He had no doubt the entire garrison had been put to death. What their fate really was we have seen above. The next morning after the capitulation of Presqu' Isle, a band of Indians appeared before Fort Le Boeuf. They were a part of the force that had attacked Presqu' Isle. They at first professed to be friendly, but very soon their true character revealed itself. Ensign Price's force consisted of two corporals and eleven privates. He rejected all the overtures of the savages and repelled their onslaught with the * See a letter dated Fort Pitt, June 26, 1763. The letter is printed in Parkman's Conspiracy of Pontiac, Chapter XVIII, This letter also gives the history of the attack on Fort Le Bceuf. THE NORTHERN POSTS. 1 29 greatest courage. The attack was continued all day. At night the Indians succeeded in setting the fort on fire. While they were in front, watching the door, shouting and leaping about, fancying the garrison were perishing in the flames, the latter were making their escape quietly from the burning building through a window on the other side. They then ran for the woods, which they reached unperceived by the exultant savages. Several of the men strayed away from their companions in the darkness ; but on the same day that Gray arrived at Fort Pitt, Ensign Price with two corporals and four private soldiers reached the same place. Afterward all the garrison except two men returned in safety to their friends. The fate of Venango had been still more tragical. On his way to Fort Pitt, Ensign Price had passed Venango and found the fort burned to the ground, and saw one of the expresses lying- dead in the road. Not a man had escaped to tell the story. Many years afterwards an Indian who had been present, "informed Sir William Johnson that a large body of Senecas had been admitted to the fort under the guise of friendship, when they fell on the unsuspect- ing garrison, and killed them all except Lieutenant Gordon. Him they compelled to write out a statement of the wrongs which they suffered from the white 130 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. men, and afterwards tortured him for several nights in succession, until death came at length to his release.* Long afterwards, ashes and charred wood, pieces of melted glass and iron, and rusted fragments of firearms, among which were mingled broken and decaying bones, marked the site of this scene of In- dian treachery and cruelty. Further to the south, a whooping multitude were holding Fort Pitt in their cruel embrace, and antici pating the hour when they should glut their savage hate in the blood of those behind its sheltering walls. Fort Ligonier, some fifty-five miles east of Fort Pitt, had sustained several attacks from the Indians, the most determined on the twenty-first of June, but made a successful resistance. The whole frontier lay exposed to the inroads of the savages. Fire and slaughter marked their tracks in every direction. "|I have been at Fort Cumberland several days," writes one on the twenty-first of June, ' ' but the Indians having killed nine people and burnt several houses near Fort Bedford, made me think it prudent to remove from those parts, from which, I suppose, near five hundred families have run away within this week." The number of killed increased daily. The terror-stricken people fled for their lives. Happily * Parkman's Conspiracy of Pontiac, Chapter XVIII. THE NORTHERN POSTS. 13! the march of Bouquet and the decisive victory of Bushy Run at length broke the power of the red men, and sent them howling into the wilds west of the^ Allegheny. 132 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. FORT DUQUESNE. For nearly five years Fort Duquesne stood on the western border of civilization as a menace to the English colonists. The desire among them for its destruction was much like that which, on a larger scale, nearly a century later, found ex- pression in the cry, "On to Richmond." There could be no peace or safety on the frontier^so long as the French flag waved over the bastions of Fort Duquesne. We have traced the history of two ex- peditions that were fitted out for its overthrow ; we have seen how the first of these was destroyed through the contumacy and bigotry of its leader ; we have seen how the second, though only missing failure, resulted in acquiring possession of the long- coveted spot. From the prominence which so long attached to Fort Duquesnfe, we think that reboubt- able stronghold deserves more than the passing notice that we have hitherto given it. FORT DUQUESNE. I33 It was on the sixteenth day of April, 1754, as has been stated, that a large fleet of boats and batteaux carrying a powerful force of French and Indians, descended the Allegheny from Venango, and landed at the forks -of the Ohio. They were under the command of M. de Contrecceur, a captain of infantry in the French army. De Contrecoeur knew the place ; he had been here with Celoron nearly five years before. He now found upon the spot a hand- ful of men under Ensign Ward, engaged in building a fort. At Contrecceur's demand, Ward surrendered the unfinished work into his hands. The"_French at once set about fortifying the place. The designer of the fort which the French built at the forks of the Ohio, was M. de Mercier,'a captain of artillery, a skillful and experienced engineer. The fort was built on a larger plan than the modest stock ade upon which Ensign Ward had been at' work. The French had come to stay; and the. fort which they built was one link in the chain of military posts which they intended to stretch from Quebec to New Orleans. The fort was named Duquesne, in compli- ment to the Marquis de Duquesne, the governor- general of Canada. The first account we have of Fort Duquesne is by Captain Robert Stobo, one of the hostages, 'given 134 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. by Washington to the French at Fort Necessity. July twenty- eighth, 1754, he writes to Washington. He gives no verbal description of the fort in his letter but he enclosed a well-drawn plan of the works, with explanations, "such as time and opportunity would admit of. " The letter was conveyed by an Indian, "a worthy fellow," though Stobo was in great danger in writing such information. " The garrison," he says, " 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 Contrecceur, with a few young officers and cadets, remains here. A lieutenant went off some days ago, with two hundred men, for pro- visions. He is daily expected. When he arrives the garrison will be four hundred men." "When we engaged to serve the country " he adds, " it was ex- pected we were to do it with our lives. Let them not be disappointed. Consider the good of the expe- dition, without the least regard for us. For my part, I would die a thousand deaths to have the pleasure of possessing this fort but one day." It is easy to be brave when danger is far off; this man was brave when danger was imminent. Indeed, V no brighter example of self-devotion and moral courage shines on the page of history than FORT DUQUESNE. I3S this of Captain Stobo at Fort Duquesne, and it well entitles him to further notice at our hands.* Robert Stobo was born at Glasgow, Scotland, in the year 1727. While yet very young, he came to Virginia, where he was engaged in mercantile pur- suits ; but possessing a ' ' natural openness and free- dom of temper, joined with a turn for gaiety," his affairs as a merchant did not prosper. When, in 1754, the Assembly of Virginia determined to raise a force to oppose the progress of the French, Stobo was one of the first to offer his services. From Great Meadows Captain Stobo was taken to Fort Duquesne, where he remained for some months, just how long we do not know ; but some time before the date of Braddock's expedition he had been transferred from Duquesne to Quebec. All this time he had been well treated, and was quite a favorite, especially with the French ladies, who, indeed, ' ' never thought any company complete unless Monsieur Stobo made one of it." When General Braddock arrived at Wills Creek on his way to Fort Duquesne, Colonel Washington put * In 1854, Neville B, Craig, the historian of Pittsburg, after much trouble secured in England a manuscript copy of the " Memoirs of Robert Stobo," which he published in a neat little volume. The Memoirs bring the life of Stobo dovrn only to the early part of the year 1760. To this little work we are indebted mainly for the facts in this notice of that brave and patriotic man. 136 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. into his hands the letter he had received from Stobo, and in the battle of the Monongahela these letters, among other effects of Braddock's, fell into the hands of the French. Very soon achange was made in the treatment of Stobo ; he was committed a close prisoner, and by an order from Paris, the governor- general of Canada was directed to try him for his life as a spy. This was in 1756. Some chance offer- ing itself, Stobo escaped from prison, but was speedily recaptured. In November of the same year he was brought up for trial, found guilty, and sentenced to death. The execution was delayed, and meantime, on the night of the thirtieth day of April, 1757, he again escaped from confinement. Better fortune awaited him this time, and after a series of ' ' remark- able adventures " and hair-breadth escapes, he arrived at Louisburg in the early part of the following June. His subsequent career, so far as it has been related, was no less patriotic and adventurous. He continued in the service of his adopted country until the close of the French and Indian war. When or where he died, we are not informed. Captain Vanbraam, it will be remembered, was Stobo's companion in captivity. A cloud of suspi- cion has always rested on the fame of Vanbraam — perhaps unjustly. We know of no grounds for this FORT DUQUESNE. I37 suspicion, except the misinterpretation of the articles of capitulation at Fort Necessity. This was no doubt the result of insufficient knowledge of the French language. He was taken with Stobo to Quebec, where he was detained a prisoner for many years. The distinguished historian. Dr. Lyman C. Draper, has made a thorough examination of the history of Vanbraam, so far as it is ascertainable, and he de- fends the character of that unfortunate officer. " It is a burning shame," he remarks, " that services and sufferings like his should have been so long and so ungratefully stigmatized and misrepresented."* In the month of June, 1755, young James Smith, who has been mentioned several times already in the course of these sketches, was captured by the Indi- ans and taken to Fort Duquesne. His reception there was somewhat rough. He says : " The next morn- ing we continued our march, and in the afternoon we came in full view of the fort, which stood on 'the point, near where Fort Pitt now stands. We then made a halt on the bank of the Allegheny, and re- peated the scalp halloo, which was answered by the firing of all the firelocks in the hands of both Indians and French who were in and about the fort, and also the great guns, which were followed by the * See Th« Olden Time, Vol. I. pp. 370-384. 138 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. continued shouts and yells of the different savage tribes who were then collected there. As I was at this time unacquainted with this mode of firing and yelling of the savages, I concluded there were thou- sands of Indians there ready to receive General Brad- dock ; but what added to my surprise, I saw numbers , running towards me, stripped naked, except breech- ( clouts, and painted in the most [hideous manner, of / various colors, though the principal color was vermil- ( ion, or a bright red ; yet there was annexed to this black, brown, blue, etc. As they approached, they formed themselves into two long ranks, about two or three rods apart. I was told by an Indian that could speak English, that I must run betwixt these ranks, and that they would flog me all the way as I ran ; and if I ran quick, it would be so much the better, as they would quit when I got to tjie end of the ranks. There appeared to be a general rejoicing about me, yet I could find nothing like joy in my breast ; but I started to the race with all the resolu- tion and vigor I was capable of exerting, and found that it was as I had been told, for I was flogged the whole way. When I had got near the end of the lines, I was struck with something that appeared to me to be a stick or the handle of a tomahawk, which caused me to fall to the ground. On my recovering FORT DUQUESNE. I39 my senses, I endeavored to renew my race ; but as I arose some one cast sand into my eyes, which blinded me so that I could not see where to run. They con-- tinued beating me most intolerably, until I was at length insensible ; but before I lost my senses, I re- member my wishing them to strike the fatal blow, for I thought they intended killing me, but appre- hended they were too long about it."* Smith was adopted into the Caughnewago tribe, and lived with them for several years. He escaped from them near Montreal, in July, 17S9. John McKinney was a prisoner at Fort Duquesne in the fall of the year 1756, and has given a very full description of the place as it then was, from which we extract the following : Fort Duquesne is situated on the east side of the Monongahela, in the fork between that and the Ohio [i. c. the Allegheny]. It is four square ; has bastions at each corner ; it is about fifty yards long and about forty yards wide About half the fort is made of square logs, and the other half next the water of stockadoes ; there are intrenchments cast up all around the fort, about seven feet high, which consist of stockadoes drove into the ground near to 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 intrenchment for the men to go up and down to fare at the enemy ; these intrenchments are about four rods from the fort and go all around, as well on the side of * Colonel James Smith's Narrative, in Drake's Indian Captivities, p. 182. I40 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. the water as the land ; the outside of the intrenchment next the water joins to the water ; the fort has two gates, one of which opens on the land-side and the other to the water-side, where the magazine is built ; that 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. . . . The water sometimes rises so high as that the whole fort is surrounded with it, so that canoes may go around it 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 towards the ground. The bas- tions are filled with earth, solid, about eight feet high ; each bastion has four carriage guns, about four pound ; no swivel nor any mortars that he knows of; they have no cannon but at the bastions There are no pickets nor palisades on the top of the fort to defend it against scaling ; the eaves of the houses in the fort are about even with the top of the logs or wall of the fort ; . . . . there are about twenty or thirty ordinary Indian cabins about the fort.* " While it might suffice for the general historian," says the Rev. Mr. Lambing, " to say that Fort Du- quesne stood on the point of land at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, it should be the study of the local annalist to fix its site with precision. And on this point, as might be expected, there is considerable difference of opinion." After a very careful discussion of the question, he says : "We must conclude that the fort was located within a square, bounded by Water street, Duquesne way, Point alley, and a line drawn parallel with, and a * The Olden Time, Vol. I. p. 39. FORT DUQUESNE. 14I hundred feet from, Penn Avenue, on the Allegheny river side ; and that it covered the ground occupied at present by Rice's Castle, the Pittsburg Plow works, part of Hugh M. Bole's machine shop and the other small buildings that stand between."* Captain John Haslet, who came with Forbes' army, wrote to Rev. Dr. Alison of Philadelphia a final description of Fort Duquesne, from which it will be seen that some changes had been made in the works subsequent to the time of John McKinney. He says : "We arrived at six last night, Novem- ber 25, 1758, and found it in a great measure de- stroyed. There are two forts about two hundred yards distant ; the one built with immense labor, small, but a great deal of very strong works collected into very little room, and stands on the point of a narrow neck of land at the confluence of the two rivers. 'Tis square and has two ravelins, gabions at each corner, etc. The other fort stands on the bank of the Allegheny, in form of a parallelogram, but nothing so strong as the other ; several of the outworks are lately begun and still unfinished. There are, I think, thirty stacks of chimneys standing, the houses all burnt down, They went * Historical Researches, Vol. I. p. 49. 142 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. off in such haste that they could not make quite the havoc of their v/orks they intended."* It must be observed that wherever the French armies w^ent, there went along the ministers of their religion ; wherever the French made a lodgment in the wilderness, there the cross was erected and there mass was said. " No lofty turrets upward spring From massive ancient piles ; No soothing chimes their echoes ring Through dim cathedral aisles ; But high above, God's ample arch Bends o'er their simple shrines, Displayed beneath the towering larch 'Mid aisles of sighing pines !"+ Father Bonnechamps had accompanied Celoron on his expedition down the Ohio ; and so now with de Contrecoeur came the good Father Denys Barron. Somewhere near the walls of the fort a small church was speedily erected, and above its lowly roof the cross held out its arms. One's heart bleeds when he pictures to himself that group of prisoners brought in at the close of Braddock's dreadful day — naked, bleeding, footsore, weary, thirsty, with no hope, and only to meet a dreadful death at the stake — and it is * The Olden Time, Vol. I. p. 184. + A Tribute to Kane, and other Poems, by George W. Chapman, p. $2. FORT DUQUESNE. 143 sweet to think that perhaps in that supreme moment of pain and terror some dying man may have caught a glimpse of the cross through the smoke of his tor- ment, and a hope not of this world may have sprung up in his heart. ' That very morning the gallant Beaujeu had knelt 1 I at the altar rail in the little church to receive the holy i communion. His body was now brought back from I the fatal field, his gorget stained with blood, to lie a brief space before the same altar rail ere it should be consigned to its long-since forgotten resting place. Fort Duquesne underwent several changes of com- mandant. The first chief was, as we have seen, M. de Contrccoeur. He continued in command until the early fall of 1755. M. Dumas, who had succeeded to the command of the French and Indians at the battle of the Monongahela, upon the death of Beaujeu, was appointed to the command of the fort upon the withdrawal of M. de Contrecoeur. He styles himself " Commander-in-chief of Fort Duquesne and its dependencies." M. Dumas was succeeded by M. de Ligneris. Just how long M. Dumas held the command we do not know ; but under date of De- cember 27, 1756, we find him mentioned in the Bap- tismal Register ^^ " commander of Fort Duquesne." M. de Ligneris continued in that position until the 144 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. abandonment of the fort by the French in November, 1758. We owe much to the Baptismal Register, lately- made accessible to the general reader, for our glimpses of still-life at Fort Duquesne. The Register records the baptisms and sepultures at Fort Duquesne for the years from 1754 to 1756 inclusive, as also for the year 1753 at the other French forts on the Allegheny. The Register was kept mainly by the Rev. Denys Barron, Aumonier du Roy — "the chaplain of the king." Many interesting facts, unimportant in them- selves, and yet interesting as connected with the his- tory of this famous French post, may be gleaned from its pages. The first record at Fort Duquesne is that of the interment of Toussaint Boyer, " styled the gentleman," a young man of about twenty-two years, who died in the fort on the twentieth of June, 1754, " after he had received the sacraments of pen- ance, tlie viaticum, and extreme unction." He was followed in death, on the fifteenth of July, by- De Jardin, aged about twenty-three years ; on August the third by Joseph Delisle, aged about twenty-six years ; and so on. As echoes from Braddock's field, we find the record of the interment in "the cemetery of Fort Du- quesne," of John Baptist Talion, who was wounded FORT DUQUESNE. 145 in the battle and died the same day in the fort ; of M. de Carqueville, a lieutenant of marines, who was killed in the battle ; of John Baptist La Perade, " ensign in the troops of the Isle Royale," who died of wounds the next day after the battle; of'M. Lienard Daniel, Esquire, Sieur de Beaujeu, Captain in the Infantry, Commander of Fort Duquesne and of the army," who was buried on the twelfth of July ; and of John Baptist Depuis, who lingered until the twenty-ninth, when he died. The first white child born on the site of the city of Pittsburg' seems to have been John Daniel Norment, born on the eighteenth of September, 1755, the son of John Gasper Norment and of Mary Joseph Chainier, "his father and mother being united in lawful wedlock." The father is described as " mer- chant trader at the Beautiful River. " The child had for his god- father no less a character than " Monsieur John Daniel, Esquire, Sieur Dumas, Captain of In- fantry, Commander-in-Chief of the forts of Presqu' Isle, French Creek, and Duquesne, at the Beautiful River." The babe did not live long to enjoy the dis- tinction, as the very next entry in the Register is that of his death, which took place on the twenty-fourth of the same month." 346 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. These are specimens of the entries in this valuable old document, and its pages are well worth perusal by those who are interested in the early annals of our country. weiser's mission to the OHIO. 147 WEISER'S MISSION TO THE OHIO. One of the earliest expeditions to the Ohio Indians, of which we have any definite knowledge is that of Conrad Weiser, in the summer of 1748. Weiser was sent by the government of Pennsylvania with a present of goods of considerable value. He was accompanied by George Croghan, a trader, who was well acquainted in the Indian country and "the best roads to Ohio." In his "Instructions" from the government, Weiser is directed as follows : You are to use the utmost diligence to acquire a perfect knowledge of the number, situation, disposition, and strength of all the Indians in or near those parts, whether they be friends, neutrals, or enemies, and be very particular in knowing the temper and influence of the tribes of Indi- ans who send deputies to receive you ; for by the knowledge of these matters you are to regulate the distribution of the goods which are to be divided amongst them in as equal and just a manner as possible, that alt may go away satisfied, and none receive the least cause of disgust at any undue preference given to others. Conrad Weiser was a German by birth, and was at this time in his fifty-second year. In 1710 his 148 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. father emigrated to America, and settled at Scohar in New York. Here the family was frequently visit by a Mohawk chief named Quagnant, and at t solicitation of this chief young Conrad went into t Mohawk country, where he devoted himself to lea: ing the language of the Indians. In 1729, he marri and moved to Berks county, Pennsylvania. He v. frequently employed by the colonial authorities interpreter, agent, etc., for the Indians. During t French and Indian war, Weiser was colonel of regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers. After a bu and useful life he died in June, 1760. Weiser, upon the occasion above described, car over into the Indian country by, the Kiskiminel route. His course from his starting point in Bei county was almost due west by the Black Log slee ing place and the Standing Stone, to the anci( settlement at Frankstown, at the foot of the moi tains, in Blair county. The distances, as he gu them in his itinerary, foot up considerably mc than the distance measured in a straight line, I perhaps not more than the tortuous windings of w] ■were considered "the best roads" required. Frankstown he says he "saw no houses or cabh We do not understand this ; perhaps the place 1 been destroyed or abandoned, or perhaps he did i weiser's mission to the OHIO. 149 enter the settlement itself, but came only into the neighborhood of it.* At this point he made a detour to the right, " crossed the Allegheny hills," no doubt by the Kittanning path, and at the distance of sixteen miles from Frankstown reached a point called ' ' the Clear Fields, " where he remained over night. This place was in the northeastern part of Cambria county, in the township that is still called Clearfield. Here he turned, and traveling a little west of south, he came that day, August 23, to the ['Showonese cabbins. " This was the point where Johnstown now stands. It is well known that a Shawanese village, afterwards call Kekkeknepalin, occupied this spot. From the Shawanese cabins Weiser proceeded northwest a distance of fifty-two miles to "Ten Mile lick," as he calls it. This was somewhere in the neigh- borhood of the present town of Apollo. From here, next day, he traveled about due west, crossed the Kiskiminetas near its mouth and came to the Ohio, as he calls it, meaning the Allegheny, twenty-six miles from his starting place in the morning. Here * This old town occupied about the same site as the modem Frankstown in Blair county. " It was named after an old German Indian trader named Stephen Franks, who lived contemporaneously with old Hart, and whose post was at this old Indian town."— Jones' Juniata Valley, p. 324. 150 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. he hired a canoe for one thousand black wampum, to convey himself and Croghan to Logstown. The horses were tired, and were to come afterwards. The point on the Allegheny where they took the water was the old Shawanese town, commonly called Chartier's town. Peter Chartier was a French Indian half-breed, a very stirring spirit and well known character in the western country in those times. In 1745 he went to the Wabash country, and the Indian town at or near the mouth of Buffalo creek, on the Allegheny, was abandoned ; hence it was sometimes called the "Old Showonese town," and sometimes " Chartier's town " or " Chartier's Old town." Weiser says it was ' ' above sixty miles by water " from Logstown ; but in this he was in error, as the distance was not more than fifty miles at the farthest. The first evening after leaving tha old Shawanese town they came to a Delaware village, where the In- dians treated them very kindly. Next day they set off in the morning early. They dined, he says, in a Seneca town, in the house of an old Seneca woman, who reigned " with great'authority. " This place was Shannopin's town, which stood on the left bank of the Allegheny, about two miles above the forks of the Ohio, within the present limits of Pittsburg. The "old Seneca woman" was doubtless Queen AH- weiser's mission to the OHIO. 151 quippa, a personage not unknown to early local fame. The evening of the same day Weiser arrived at Logstown, which was the objective point of his journey. Logstown was situated on the right bank of the Ohio, at a distance of eighteen miles from the point at Pittsburg.* It was an important Indian town, and is of frequent mention in the annals of the last century. At the time of which we write it con- sisted of some sixty or seventy cabins, inhabited by a number of confederated tribes — Senecas, Shaw- anese, Delawares,Wyandotts, etc. The year previous to this time a delegation from the Indian tribes on the Ohio had requested of the government of Pennsyl- vania that an agent should be sent to them at Logs- town for the purpose of holding a council. It was in pursuance of this request that Weiser had now come. He had been here but a few days when he received a message from Coscosky, an Indian town on the Big Beaver river, at no great distance, desiring him to hold the council at their town ; but very much to the grati- fication of the inhabitants of Logstown, he refused to hold the council at any other place than the latter town. The horses that carried the goods had preceded • Morse's American Gazetter, 1884. 152 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. Weiser, but he overtook them at Frankstown, as they had been delayed by the illness of some of the men. The goods were brought along but slowly. At the Shawanese cabins Weiser met twenty of Croghan's horses on the way to convey the goods from Franks- town. On the second day after Weiser's arrival at Logstown, the Indians set off in their canoes, very cheerily, no doubt, to bring in the goods. Weiser expected that they would be at Chartier's town by the time the canoes would get there ; but they had not come. September eleventh the goods had not yet arrived, and Weiser began to be uneasy, as he feared that they might have fallen into the hands of enemies. He desired the Indians to send some of their young men out to meet the people with the goods, and not to come back until they had intelligence of them, if they had to go all the way to Frankstown, where he had last seen them. Accordingly, two Indians and a white man were sent on this expedition, but they failed to obey orders, as in two days they were back, having been only as far as Chartier's town, and having seen nothing of the goods. Two days afterwards, however, the goods arrived, very much to the relief of Weiser and the satisfaction of the red men. They had been detained on account of the floods in the WEISER'S MISSION TO THE OHIO. 153 creeks, and because one of the sick men had to be sent back from Frankstown to the settlements. Weiser being informed that the Wyandotts and Delawares were contemplating a return to the French, sent a messenger to the Delawares at Beaver Creek with a string of wampum, to learn the truth of the matter. The Delawares returned him a string of wampum, with the assurance that the report was false. He then held a council with the chiefs of the Wyan- dotts and inquired into their number, their reasons for abandoning the French, what correspondence they had with the Six Nations, etc. "They informed me," he says, "their coming away from the French was because of the hard usage they received from them ; that they would always get their young men to go to war against the enemies, and would use them as their own people, that is, like slaves ; and their goods were so dear that they (the Indians) could not buy them ; that there were one hundred lighting men that came over to join the English, seventy were left behind at another town a good distance off, and they hoped they would follow them ; that they had a very good correspondence with the Six Nations for many years, and were one people with them ; that they could wish the Six Nations would act more briskly against the French ; that about fifty years ago they 154 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. made a treaty of friendship with the governor of New- York at Albany ; and they showed me a large belt of wampum they had received from the said governor, as from the king of Great Britain. The belt was twenty-five grains wide and two hundred and sixty- five long, very curiously wrought. There were seven images of men holding one another by the hand — the first signifying the governor of New York, or rather, as he said, the king of Great Britain ; the second, the Mohawks ; the third, the Oneidas ; the fourth, the Cajugas ; the fifth, the Onondagers ; the sixth, the Senecas ; the seventh, the Owandats ; and two rows of black wampum under their feet, through the whole length of the belt, to signify the road from Albany through the Five Nations to the Owandats ; that six years ago they had sent deputies with the same belt to Albany to renew the friendship." At the conclusion of the council, Weiser treated the assembled chiefs to a quart of whiskey and a roll of tobacco. The Indian seems always to have had a lively idea of his greatest needs, and the white man was peculiarly felicitous in ministering to them. The deputies present from the various tribes on the waters of the Ohio handed in the numbers of their fighting men. They were indicated by bundles of little sticks tied up, and varied from one hundred and sixty-five weiser's mission to the OHIO. 155 to fifteen. The numbers footed up seven hundred and eighty-nine. But, the goods having arrived, the neighboring Indians were sent for again, and on the seventeenth of September a general council was held. An ad- dress was made to the Indians by Weiser, in which he explained to them why it was that the government had sent out the goods instead of the weapons which had been promised ; it was because " the king of Great Britain and the French king had agreed upon a cessation of arms for six months, and that a peace was very likely to follow." He also warned them of the deceitfulness of "a French peace ;" assured them that the present which he had brought was intended " to strengthen the chain of friendship " between the English and the Indians; gave them some good advice on general principles, and devoted considera- ble attention to the liquor traffic among them. "You have of late made frequent complaints against the traders bringing so much rum to your towns," he said, "and desire it might be stopped; and your brethren, the president and council, made an act ac- cordingly and put a stop to it, and no trader was to bring any rum or strong drink liquor to your towns. But it seems it is out of your brethren's power to stop it entirely. You send down your own skins by IS6 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. the traders to buy rum for you. You go yourselves and fetch horse-loads of strong liquors ; only the other day an Indian came to this town out of Mary- land with three horse-loads of liquor ; so that it ap- pears you love it so well that you cannot be without it. You knbw very well that the country near the Endless Mountains* affords strong liquor, and the moment the traders buy it they are gone out of thp inhabited parts and are traveling to this place with- out being discovered ; besides this, you never agree about it ; one will have it, the other wont (though very few) ; a third says he will have it cheaper ; this last, we believe, is spoken from your hearts." Upon this hit his auditors laughed. He then attempted to fix a price for which liquor should be sold. " If a trader offers to sell whiskey to you, and will not let you have it at that price," he says, " you may take it from him and drink it for nothing." And we may be sure the Indians never stood out for a second in- vitation. The council being ended, the goods were divided into shares, and so distributed as to give the Indians " great satisfaction." Two days afterwards several Indians came as depu- ties to Weiser's lodging to return the thanks of the * The Allegheny range, called by the Six Nations, Tyannuntaseta, or Endless Hills. weiser's mission to the OHIO. 157 red men for his kindness. "Our brethren have indeed tied our hearts to theirs," they say ; " we at present can but return thanks with an empty hand till another opportunity serves to do it sufficiently." They also informed him that they often had occasion to send messengers to Indian towns and nations on business of the tribes, and that they had nothing with which to recompense the messengers or to get wampum. "I had saved a piece of strand," says Weiser, "and half a barrel of powder, one hundred pounds of lead, ten shirts, six knives, and one pound of vermilion, and gave it to them for the aforesaid use. They returned many thanks and were mightily pleased." On the nineteenth of September, Weiser set out on his return, and ten days later we find him at Penns- burg, in Cumberland county, writing out the report of his mission. 158 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. POST'S FIRST VISIT TO THE WESTERN INDIANS. About the middle of July, 1758, Christian Freder- ick Post received orders from the governor of Penn- sylvania to proceed to the western part of the prov- ince and endeavor to withdraw the Indian tribes there from the French interest. Post was an unassuming Moravian preacher. He had come from Germany in 1742. For several years he had preached among the Indians, and he had married a baptized Mohican woman. His own temperament and his intimate knowledge of the Indian character caused him to be well fitted for the duty with which he was entrusted. He was accompanied by Tom Hickman (an interpre- ter), and a number of Indians, among them Pisque- tumen and Wellemeghihink.* The Indians were at Germantown, a hamlet a few miles north of Philadel- * In the Pennsylvania Archives we find his name printed Willm Mc- Kaking, See Volume III. page 520. In Proud's History of Pennsylvania it appears as Wiliumegicken and WelUmeghihink. See Volume II., Ap- pendix. post's first visit to the western INDIANS. 159 phia. When Post arrived there on the fifteenth of July, he found them all drunk, except Wellemeghi- hink, who had gone to Philadelphia for a horse that had been promised him. Post waited until near noon the next day for his return, and when he came he was so drunk that he could get no farther, and Post was obliged to proceed without him. Post had a good deal of trouble to get his Indians off, as they made out to be generally either drunk or sick ; but on the sixteenth of the month, he at length got properly started on his perilous journey. At Fort Allen, where he arrived on the twentieth, he met with seri- ous opposition from King Teedyuscung. Two years before, at Easton, Teedyuscung had made a treaty of peace and friendship with the English. He was now about fifty years old. He is described in the records of the time as "a lusty, rawboned man, haughty and very desirous of respect and command.'' He had also a great capacity for fire-water. ' ' He can drink three quarts or a gallon of rum a day with- out being drunk. " Hence there is no telling what quantity he must have imbibed on those festive occa- sions when he became intoxicated, as at the council at Easton, when it is said that he and ' ' his wild com- pany were perpetually drunk, very much on the Gascoon, and at times abusive to the inhabitants." l6o THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. He was also "full of himself, saying frequently that which side soever he took must stand, and the other fall."* He declared that he had been made king by! ten nations, namely, the united Six Nations, and the| Delawares, Shawanese, Mohicans, and Munceys. "He[ carried the belt of peace with him, " he said, ' ' and who- ever would might take hold of it." At this treaty he declared that he was present by the appointment of these ten nations, and that what he did they would all confirm. Yet a day or two afterwards he qualified this statement. He was not sure that he could pre- vail on the Ohio Indians. " I cannot tell," he said, "that they will leave off doing mischief;" and he advised the English to make themselves strong on that side. He was right as to the Indians on the Ohio. His treaty was effective so far as regarded the Indians on the Susquehanna, but the tribes in the Ohio valley scouted his authority. Teedyuscung now protested against Post's proceed- ing on his mission. " His reasons were," says Post, " that he was afraid the Indians would kill me, or the French get me ; and if that should be the case he should be very sorry, and did not know what he should do. " His opposition was such that but three of the party offered to go any farther with Post, * Pennsylvania Archives, Volume II. page 724. post's first visit to the western INDIANS. l6l " We concluded," says Post, " to go through the in- habitants, under the Blue mountains, to Fort Augusta, on Susquehanna." This fort stood at Shamokin, where Sunbury now stands. It was built in the sum- mer of 1756. Post arrived there on the twenty-fifth of July. " It gave me great pain," he says, "to ob" serve many plantations deserted and laid waste, and I could not but reflect on the distress the poor owners must be drove to, who once lived in plenty, and I prayed the Lord to restore peace and prosperity to the distressed." At Fort Augusta the unpleasant news was brought by some Indians that the English army had been destroyed at Ticonderoga, which so discouraged one of his companions, ' ' Lappopetung's son," that he refused to accompany the expedition any farther. This reduced Post's original company to only two men,. Pisquetumen and ,Tom Hickman. He must here have recruited his force, as we know that he afterwards had at least four men with him. One of those whom he here picked up was Shamokin Daniel, and Shamokin Daniel afterward turned out to be a thorn in the flesh.* At the fort they were *The Indians at Shamokin were a very depraved set. Good David Brainerd, who had visited them some years before, says of them : " The Indians of this place are accounted the most drunken, mischievous, and ruffian-like fellows of any in these parts ; and Satan seems to have his seat in this town in an eminent manner." — Brainerd' s Diary, Sept. rj, 174^. l62 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. furnished with everything necessary for the journey, and on the twenty-seventh they "set out with good courage." After various adventures they came, on the seventh of August, in sight of Fort Venango.* "I prayed the Lord to blind them," says Post, "as he did the enemies of Lot and Elisha, that I might pass unknown." They slept that night within half gunshot of the fort. On the tenth they met an In- dian, and one whom Post believed to be a renegade English trader, from whom they learned that they had lost the way, and that they were within twenty miles of Fort Duquesne. Upon this they struck off to the right, and slept that night "between two mountains." On the second day after this they came to the Connoquenessing, or, as Post writes it, the Conaquanoshon, where, he says, was an old Indian town, fifteen miles from Kushkushkee.f "The point at which Post saw the Conaquanoshon was probably abput where Harmony now stands, as this village is •just fifteen miles in a straight line from Newport, which occupies the site of Cushcushcunk, or Kosh- * This was the French fort at the mouth of French Creek. It was called by the French, Fort Machault. ., -t-This name is variously spelled in the old records. In Weiser's journal it is written Coscosky; in Washington's journal, Kuskusko ; in Post's jour- nal, Kushkushkee; while two other varieties of spelling are also here pre- sented. post's first visit to the western INDIANS. 163 kosh-kung. If this supposition is correct there must have then been, in 1758, "an old Indian town' upon or very near the ground on which Harmony is built."* From this point they sent Pisquetumen to Kush- kushkee in advance of the party, with a message of friendship and explanation. About noon they met some Shawanese that had formerly lived at Wyom- ing. They knew Post, and greeted him very kindly. "I saluted them," says he, "and assured them that the government of Pennsylvania wished them well, and wished to live in peace and friendship with them." Before they reached the town, two men came out to meet them and bring them in. King Beaver seemed to be the chief man in the place. He received them, and showed them a large house in which they could lodge. The news soon spread, and the people gathered about to see them. There were about sixty young warriors who came and shook hands with them. King Beaver spoke to the people. "Boys," said he, "hearken. We sat here without ever expecting again to see our brethren, the En- glish ; but now one of them is brought before you, that you may see your brethren, the English, with your own eyes ; and I wish you may take it into * History of Butler Co., Pa., p. 15. 164 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. consideration." Then, turning to Post, he said: " Brother, I am very glad to see you ; I never thought we should have had the opportunity to see one another more ; but now I am very glad, and thank God, who has brought you to us. It is a great satisfaction to me." To this address of welcome Post replied: ' ' Brother, I rejoice in my heart ; I thank God, who has brought me to you. I bring you joyful news from the governor and people of Pennsylvania, and from your children, the Friends ; and, as I have words of great consequence, I will lay them before you when all the kings and captains are called to- gether from the other towns." Messengers were at once dispatched to the sur- rounding towns and villages, but it was not until the seventeenth of the month that the different ' ' kings and captains " could be got together. In the mean, time. Post had been treated with the greatest kind- ness. The Indians seemed really pleased that he had visited them. They came to his lodgings, where they would remain and dance sometimes until after mid- night. Some Frenchmen, who were in the town building houses for the Indians, also came to see him. Among those who came to the great council were two Indian captains from Fort Duquesne. They were very surly. "When I went to shake hands post's first visit to the western INDIANS. 165 with one of them," says Post, "he gave me his little finger ; the other withdrew his hand entirely ; upon which I appeared as stout as either, and withdrew my hand as quick as I could. Their rudeness to me," he adds, "was taken very ill by the other captains, who treated them in the same manner in their turn." With these two messengers from Fort Duquesne had come a French captain and fifteen men. But Post would have nothing to do with them ; he had been sent to the Indians, he said, and not to the French. In the councils that followed, the In- dians expressed a desire for peace. ' ' All the In- dians," said they, "a great way from this, even be- yond the lakes, wish for a peace with the English, and have desired us, as we are the nearest of kin, if we see the English incline to a peace, to hold it fast." They entirely ignored Teedyuscung, however, and would not hear of any treaty that had been made by him. But, as they said, they could not make peace alone; it was necessary that all should join in it, or it could be no peace. They therefore proposed to go to a neighboring town called Sawkunk,* and con- *Sawkunk was an important Indian town that stood at the confluence of the Big Beaver and Ohio rivers. The name signifies ' ' at the .mouth.^" or where one stream flows into another. See Boyd's Indian Local- Names, page 43. 1 66 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. sider the matter further there. To this Post con- sented, and they set out on the twentieth. The party consisted of twenty-five horesmen and fifteen foot. They arrived at Sawkunk in the afternoon. Post's reception there was not so friendly as at Kush- kushkee. "The people of the town were much dis- turbed at my coming," says he, "and received me in a very rough manner. They surrounded me with drawn knives in their hands, in such a manner that I could hardly get along. " They evidently thirsted for his blood, and seemed to desire some pretense to kill him ; but some Indians coming up, whom Post had formerly known, who now greeted him in a friendly manner, the behavior of the others quickly changed. Here it was proposed that he should proceed to Fort Duquesne, as there were eight different nations there who desired to hear his message. To this Post earnestly objected, but in vain ; the Indians insisted, told him he need not fear the French, that they would carry him "in their bosoms." They accordingly set out for the fort, but went only as far as Logstown that day. The next day, August 24, they con- tinued their journey, and in the afternoon came in sight of the fort. They did not cross over, but remained on the north bank of the river. As they had come up the river from Logstown, post's first visit to the western INDIANS. 167 the place where they halted was, perhaps, a little below the point where the fort stood. Immediately all the Indian chiefs at the fort crossed over, when King Beaver presented Post to therti, saying: "Here is our English brother, who has brought good news." Some of the chiefs signified their pleasure at seeing him ; but one old, deaf Onondago denounced him. "I do not know this Swannock," said he; "it may be that you know him. I, the Shawanese, and our father do not know him." The next day, however, he acknowleged that he had been wrong ; he said that " he had now cleaned himself/' and hoped they would forgive him. The French, and some of the Indians, demanded that Post should be sent into the fort ; but the other Indians would not hear to this. On the twenty-fifth the chiefs assembled again and had a great deal of counselling among themselves. The French were still intriguing to get Post into their hands, but his friends would not give him up. He was told not to stir from the fire, for the French had offered a great reward for his scalp, and that some parties were de- sirous to secure it. ' ' Accordingly I stuck as close to the fire," says he, "as if I had been chained there." The following day the Indians and a number of French officers crossed the river again to hear what Post had 1 68 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. to say. They brought with them a table and writing materials, to take down what might be said. Post stood in the middle of them and spoke at consider- able length "with a free conscience." The French, he says, did not seem pleased with his speech. "Brethren at Allegheny," said he, "hear what I say : Every one that lays hold of this belt of peace, I proclaim peace to them from the English nation, and let you know that the great king of England does not incline to have war with the Indians ; but he wants to live in peace and love with them, if they will lay down the hatchet and leave off war with him. We let you know that the great king of England has sent a great number of warriors into this country, not to go to war with the Indians in their towns, no, not at all ; these warriors are going against the French. By this belt I take you by the hand, and lead you at a distance from the French, for your own safety, that your legs may not be stained with blood. Come away on this side the mountain, where we may oftener converse together, and where your flesh and blood lives. I have almost finished what I had to say, and hope it will be to your satisfaction. My wish is that we may join close together in that old brotherly love and friendship which our grandfathers had, so that all the nations may hear and see us, post's first visit to the western INDIANS. 169 and have the benefit of it ; and if you have any un- easiness or complaint in your heart and mind, do not keep it to yourself. We have opened the road to the council fire, therefore, my brethren, come and acquaint the governor vv^ith it ; you will be readily heard, and full justice will be done you."- After the council the French and Indians returned to the fort, except Post's companions, who were about seventy in number. One of the latter, how- ever, Shamokin Daniel, went over to the fort, though his comrades disapproved it. Here he had some conversatioij with the commandant, and soon re- turned with a laced coat and hat, a blanket, shirts, ribbons, a new gun, powder, lead, etc. He was quite a changed man. He reviled Post and the En- gUsh, and "behaved in a very proud, saucy, and im- perious manner." Post was informed that as soon as they got back to the fort, the French proposed to the Indians to cut off Post and his party. To this the Indians would not consent. "The Dela- wares," said they, "are a strong people, and are spread to a great distance, and whatever they agree to must be." The French again insisted that Post must be delivered up to them ; but the Indians re- fused to do so, except the traitorous Shamokin Daniel, who had received a string of wampum to leave him 170 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. there. Post's friends then determined that he should set off the next morning before day, which he did. They returned through Sawkunk, and arrived at Kushkushkee in the evening of the twenty-eighth. Pisquetumen, Tom Hickman, Shingiss, and the ras- cally Shamokin Daniel were of the party. Though the Delawares had treated Post kindly, and had refused to deliver him to the French, they were not ready yet to surrender themselves to the En- glish cause. They were suspicious of the English, and of their good intentions. "It is told us," said they, after they got back to Kushkushkee, ' ' that you and the French contrived the war to waste the Indians between you ; and that you and the French intended to divide the land between you. This was told us by the chief of the Indian traders ; and they said further, ' Brothers, this is the last time we shall come among you, for the French and English intend to kill all the Indians, and then divide the land among themselves.' " "I am very sorry," answered Post, "to see you so jealous. I am your own flesh and blood, and sooner than I would tell you any story that would be of hurt to you or your children, I would suffer death. And if I did not know that it was the desire of the gov- ernor that we should renew our brotherly love and post's first visit to the western INDIANS. 171 friendship that subsisted between our grandfathers, I would not have undertaken this journey. I do assure you of mine and the people's honesty." In a council held on the fourth of September, the chiefs addressing him, said : Brother, you very well know that 'you have collected all your young men about the country, which makes a large body, and now they are stand- ing before our doors. You come with good news and fine speeches. This is what makes us jealous, and we do not know what to think of it. If you had brought the news of peace before your army had begun to march, it would have caused a great deal more good. We do not so readily believe you, because a great many great men and] traders have told us, long before the war, that you and the French intended to join and cut all of the Indians off. To this speech Post replied : Brothers, I love you from the bottom of my heart. I am extremely sorry to see the jealousy so deeply rooted in your hearts and minds. I have told you the truth ; and yet, if I was to tell it you a hundred times, it seems you would not rightly believe me. I do now declare, before God, that the English never did, nor never will, join with the French to destroy you. Having performed the task that had been given him to do. Post now desired to return home ; but the Indians, on one pretext or another, delayed him day after day. They were not entirely satisfied in their minds. "It is a troublesome cross and heavy yoke to draw this people," wrote Post; "they can punish and squeeze a body's heart to the utmost. My 172 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. heart has been very heavy here, because they kept me for no purpose. The Lord knows how they have been counselling about my life ; but they did not know who was my Protector and Deliverer." At length, however, on the afternoon of the eighth of September, Post and his party set off from Kushkush- kee and proceeded ten miles on their return journey. They suffered much from hunger and exposure on the way, and were in great danger from the enemy, but finally arrived at Fort Augusta, on the twenty- second, "very weary and hungry, but greatly re- joiced of our return from this tedious journey." post's second mission. 173 POST'S SECOND MISSION. Post had but little leisure to recover from the fatigue of his journey when he was desired by the governor to proceed again to the Indians on the Ohio, Among his companions were two of the persons who had been with him before — the chief Pisquetumen and the interpreter, Tom Hickman. He was also accom- panied by Captain Bull and Mr. Hays. He was di- rected to follow Forbes' army, in order to receive further instructions from the general. It was now the latter part of October. Post had a good deal of the same kind of trouble in getting off as in his pre- vious journey. When he was about ready to start, he found Pisquetumen helplessly drunk, and the next day that worthy was so sick that Post was much dis- composed. Mr. Hays had already preceded him with a company of Indians, some distance, and when Post, with the hopeful Pisquetumen, came up to them he found them also very ill — whether or not from the 174 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. same source as Pisquetumen's illness, is not stated. When they had recovered sufficiently to set out, they objected strongly to proceeding after the army, and insisted on going through the woods. Post reasoned with them, and they at length reluctantly consented to go. Post left the plantation of Conrad Weiser, about fourteen miles west of Reading, on the twenty- eighth of October, and in the afternoon of the seventh of November, "before sun set," he arrived at the Loyalhanna, where he was "gladly received" by General Forbes. He remained here until nearly noon of the ninth, awaiting his instructions from the gen- eral. While here he was asked by some of the "colonels and chief commanders " how he could rule and bring these people to reason, ' ' making no use of gun or sword," and he replied that it was done "by no other means than by faith." About noon Post resumed his journey. He was escorted by a company of one hundred men under command of Captain Haslet. They did not attempt to proceed by a 'direct course to Kushkushking, which was Post's objective point. Only a few weeks before the enemy had made a vigorous attack on the post at Loyalhanna, and though they had been re- pulsed, the woods toward Fort Duquesne were swarm- ing with them. Hence Post and his escort made a post's second mission. 175 detour to the right. The next morning, having conducted them into a region of at least comparative safety, Captain Haslet, with the greater part of the force left him, but directed Lieutenant Hays with fourteen men to accompany Post to the Allegheny river. Post's party, on the morning of the eleventh, passed through Kekkeknepalin, an old Shawanese town, which stood on the site of the present town of Johnstown, in Cambria county. Post describes it as being so ' ' grown up thick with weeds, briars, and bushes," that they could scarcely get through. It was the same place called by Conrad Weiser, ten years before, the "Showonese cabbins. " It had no doubt been long abandoned. The inhabitants had gone farther west, and a week later, at Kush- kushking, Post met the chief Kekkeknepalin, for whom the town was doubtless named. At three o'clock of the same day they came to Kiskemeneco. Post describes it as "an old Indian town, a rich bot- tom, well timbered, good fine English grass, well watered, and lies waste since the war began." Where this interesting town lay it is impossible to say. It was somewhere on or near the Kiskiminetas, and somewhat more than half way between Kekkeknepalin and " an old Shawano town " that stood on the east bank of the Allegheny. The distance from Johns- 176 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. town to the mouth 'of the Kiskiminetas is not less than sixty-five miles, following the course of the stream, yet Post reached the old Shawano town, which we presume was a little below the mouth of the Kiskiminetas, at one o'clock of the next day after he passed through Kekkeknepalin. Although they had not yet reached the Allegheny, yet at Kiske- meneco they agreed to allow Lieutenant Hays to depart with his detachment. The old Shawanese town on the bank of the Alle- gheny was not, a very inviting place. Post remained there over the night of the twelfth ; " the wolves and owls," he says, " made a great noise in the night." They rose early the next morning, got breakfast, and then finished some rafts which they had begun the evening before. They then crossed the Alle- gheny, and landed "near an old Indian town." This town was probably Chartier ' s old town. The evening of the next day they heard the great guns at Fort Duquesne. ' ' Whenever I looked towards that place," says Post, "I felt a dismal impression; the very place seemed shocking and dark." On the sixteenth they met two Indians on the road, who sat down with them to dinner. That day they reached Kushkushking. One of the two Indians they had fallen in with, rode before to let the people post's second mission. 177 in the town know of Post's arrival. But there were very few people in the town, only two men and some women. These, however, receivec^ him kindly. When Lieutenant Hays parted from Post, he marched away to his fate. On that same day a party of Indians under Kedeuscund, attacked the van of Forbes' army under Colonel Washington, about three miles from the camp at Loyalhanna, and were driven away.* In their retreat they came across the squad under Lieutenant Hays, about twelve miles from Fort Duquesne. What Lieutenant Hays was doing within twelve miles of Fort Duquesne, unless he had lost his way, it is impossible to determine. At all events the savages fell upon him, killed the lieutenant and four of his men, took five prisoners, while the other four men made their escape. In the evening of the seventeenth, the day after Post's arrival at Kushkushking, the chief Kekkeknepalin came in from the war, and reported the affair of Lieutenant Hays. He also informed Post that one of the men taken prisoner, who was then at Sawkunk, had been con- demned to be burned at the stake. The doomed man was Sergeant Henry Osten. Post at once set to work to try to save him from this terrible fate. He had some difficulty to find a messenger who would go to * History of Western Pennsylvania, p. 139. -178 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. Sawkunk, but at length he prevailed upon an Indian named Compass, for five hundred black wampum, a shirt, and a dollar, to go. By the nineteenth of No- vember many of the vi^arriors had returned home, and the town was now full. On the twentieth. Sergeant Gsten was brought to Kushkushking, where the poor fellow was compelled to run the gauntlet, and was dreadfully beaten. "It is a grievous and melan- choly sight," says Post, " to see our fellow mortals so abused." By dint of much speech-making and diplomacy, however, Post succeeded in saving him from the stake. But it was a precarious time for Post himself. ' ' We were warned not to go far from the house, " he says, ' ' because the 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." In the after- noon of the twentieth, all the 'chiefs to the number of sixteen met in council, and sent for Post, that they might hear his message. They received it with great satisfaction. Later in the day runners came in from Fort Duquesne with a string of wampum and a mes- sage from the French king. "My children," said he, ' ' come to me, and hear what I have to say. POST S SECOND MISSION. 179 The English are coming with an army to destroy both you and me. I therefore desire you immedi- ately, my children, to hasten with all the young men ; we will drive the English and destroy them." On the twenty-second word was brought that Forbes was within fifteen miles of Fort Duquesne. This so pleased the Indians that they danced around the fire until midnight. On the twenty-fourth, Post put up the English flag, in spite of the French officer who was present. That same day King Beaver came home, and received Post in a very friendly manner. "As soon as I heard of your coming," said he, "I rose up directly to come to you. It pleaseth me to hear that you brought such good news, and my heart rejoices already at what you said to me." " Brother, " replied Post, "you did well that you first came here before you went to the kings, as the good news we brought is to all nations, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, that want to be in peace and friendship with the English." The next day Shingiss returned, and welcomed Post. A council was summoned, at which about fifty warriors were present. King Beaver spoke first. "Hearken, all you captains and war- riors," said he, "here are our brethren, the English. I wish that you may give attention, and take l8o THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. notice of what they say, as it is for our good that there may an everlasting peace be established. Although there is a great deal of mischief done, if it pleaseth God to let us, we may live in peace again." After some further preliminary speech-making. Post deliv- ered his message from Governor Denny and General Forbes. "If you are in earnest to be reconciled to us," said the governor, "you will keep your young men from attacking our country, and killing and carrying captive our back inhabitants, and will likewise give orders that your people may be kept at a distance from Fort Duquesne, that they may not be hurt by our warriors, who are sent by our king to chastise the French, and not to hurt you. Consider the com- manding officer of that army treads heavy, and would be very sorry to hurt any of his Indian brethren. The chiefs of the United Nations, with their cousins, our brethren the Delawares, and others now here, jointly with me send this belt, which has upon it two figures that represent all the English and all the In- dians now present taking hands, and delivering it to Pisquetumen ; and we desire it may be likewise sent to the Indians who are named at the end of these messages, as they have all been formerly our very good friends and allies, and we desire they will all go post's second mission. i8i from among the French to their own towns, and no longer help the French. ' ' Brethren on the Ohio, if you take the belts we just now gave you, in which all here join, English and Indians, as we do not doubt you will, then, by this belt, I make a road for you and invite you to come to Philadelphia to your first old council-fire, which was kindled when we first saw one another — which fire we will kindle up again, and remove all disputes, and renew the old and first treaties of friendship. This is a clear and open road for you ; fear, therefore, nothing, and come to us with as many as can be of the Dela wares, Shawanese, or of the Six Nations. We will be glad to see you ; we desire all tribes and nations of Indians, who are in alliance with you, may come. As soon as we hear of your coming, of which you will give us timely notice, we will lay up provisions for you along the road." "I am glad to find that all past disputes and ani- mosities are now finally settled and amicably ad- justed," said General Forbes, "and I hope they will be forever buried in oblivion, and that you will now again be firmly united in the interest of your brethren, the English. As I am now advancing at the head of a large army against his Majesty's ene- l82 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. mies, the French, on the Ohio, I must strongly rec- ommend to you to send immediate notice to any of your people who may be at the French fort, to return forthwith to your towns, where you may sit by your fires with your wives and children, quiet^ and undisturbed, and smoke your pipes in safety. Let the French fight their own battles, as they were the first cause of the war and the occasion of the long difference which hath subsisted between you and your brethren, the English ; but I must en- treat you to restrain your young men from crossing the Ohio, as it will be impossible for me to distin- guish them from our enemies. This advice take and keep in your own breasts, and suffer it not to reach the ears of the French." Notwithstanding this request of Forbes, the French officer at Kushkushking was present at the council. Post had objected to his being admitted ; but King Beaver and Shingiss had desired him to be present. There was no longer need to keep the secret from the French, for, as they said, the ' ' French were beaten already." And so they were. That very day they had fled from the ruins of Fort Du- quesne, and Forbes' army had taken possession of the place. The messages gave great satisfaction to all except post's second mission. 183 the French captain. "He shook his head with bit- ter grief, and often changed his countenance." Thuigs went along smoothly. " We ended this day," says Post, ' ' with pleasure and great satisfaction on both sides." But the matter in hand was important, and the Indian never hurries important business. There were several knotty points to be arranged. Kedeuscund, one of the chief counsellors, informed Post that " all the nations had jointly agreed to de- fend their hunting place at Allegheny, and suffer no- body to settle there ; and as these Indians are very much inclined to the English interest, so he begged us very much to tell the governor, the general, and all other people not to settle there. And if the English would draw back over the mountain, they would get all the other nations into their interest ; but if they stayed and settled there, all the other na- tions would be against them ; and he was afraid it would be a great war, and never come to a peace again." But all points were at length arranged in a man- ner satisfactory to the red men. On the twenty-eighth. King Beaver arose early, before day, and desired his people to rise and prepare breakfast, " for they had to answer their brethren, the English, and their uncles, and therefore they should be in a good humor and disposition." At 10 o'clock they met together, 184 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. and King Beaver said: "Take notice, all you young men and warriors, to what we answer now. It is three days since we heard our brethren, the English, and our uncles * ; and what we have heard of both is very good ; and we are all much pleased with what we have heard. Our uncles have made an agreement, and peace is established with our brethren, the Eng- lish, and they have shook hands with them ; and we likewise agree in the peace and friendship they have established between them." Having so well succeeded in his mission, on the second day of December, Post and his party set out for Fort Duquesne. They passed through Logstown, and lodged for the night on a hill in the open air, eight miles from Pittsburg. All the Shawanese towns between Sawkunk and Pittsburg had been deserted by their inhabitants. A number of Indians accom- panied Post. They arrived opposite Pittsburg early on the third of December, but as there were no boats they had no means of crossing the Allegheny river. The Indians at length found a small raft hid among some bushes, and upon this Mr. Hays with two Indi- ans crossed over. The next day about noon Mr. Hays returned with a raft, upon which the Indian chiefs went over to the ^fort. Upon their arrival, • The Six Nations. post's second mission. 185 Colonel Bouquet called a council, in which the ques- tion of allowing the British garrison to occupy the place was discussed. Post was not at the council, as he did not get over the river until the meeting was about ended. Post inquired of King Beaver, Shingiss, and Kedeuscund, what they had concluded to do in the matter. The chiefs replied : ' ' We have told them three times to leave the place and go back ; but they insist oh staying here ; if, therefore, they will be de- stroyed by the French and Indians, we cannot help them." In the report of the conference itself, King Beaver, speaking for the chiefs, is represented as say- ing: "Wegave itas our opinion that when the general had driven the French away from this place, that he should take his men away over the great mountain, till we had driven the French away out of our country, then to come and build a trading house here ; but, brother, as you tell us the general has left two hun- dred men here to support and defend the traders, you will send to trade with us, we assure you it is agreeable to us, and we will give them all the assistance we can. ' ' These stories are contradictory, but we incline to think that that which the Indians told Post is the true version ; for a month later, at a council held by Col- onel Hugh Mercer, the commandant at Fort Pitt„ with a delegation of chiefs from up the Allegheny l86 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. river, he attempts to apologize for the presence o the British garrison. "Our great man's words an true," said Colonel Mercer ; "as soon as the Frencl are gone, he will make a treaty with all the Indians and then go home ; but the French are still here Our great man has ordered me to stay here ; if th( French should come, I will be strong and make then run away once more." On the sixth of December, Post set out fron; Pittsburg, and arrived at Fort Ligonjer in the after noon of the eighth. Here he found'General Forbes, to whom he made his report. The general was verj ill, and was scarcely able to see him. He remained at Fort Ligonier until the twenty-seventh, when he departed with General Forbes and his escort for the east. He continued with the general's company until the eighth of January, when he "begged the general for leave to go to Lancaster." They were then at Carlisle. Permission to go was granted, and on the tenth, in the afternoon. Post arrived in Lancaster, ' ' and was quite refreshed, " he says, ' ' to have the favor to see my brethren." THE STOLEN PLATE. 187 THE STOLEN PLATE. Celoron, upon setting out on his trip through the Ohio valley, was provided with at least seven leaden plates. We do not know that he had any more. They were about eleven inches long, seven and a half inches wide, and one-eighth of an inch thick. They all bore the same inscription, the letters stamped in capitals, with blanks in which to inscribe such names of places and such dates as should be necessary. The first of the leaden plates which they prepared to deposit was spoiled by insert- ing the name Chautauqua instead of Conewango. This plate, sometime afterwards, fell into the hands of the English. It bore the following inscription : In the year 1749, during the reign of Louis XV. , king of France, we, Celoron, commander of a detachment sent by the Marquis de la Gallis- soniere, commander-in-chief of New France, to restore tranquility in some savage villages of these districts, have buried this plate at the con- fluence of the Ohio and Tcha-da-koin,* this twenty-ninth of July, near the * Chautauqua, formerly written also Chatacoin, Jadachque, etc., etc. l88 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. River Ohio, alias "Beautiful River," as a monument of our having retaken possession of the said River Ohio and of those that fall into the same, and of all this lands on both sides as far as the sources of the said rivers, as well as of those of vfhich preceding kings of France have enjoyed possession , partly by the force of arms, partly by treaties, especially by those of Ryswrick, Utrecht, and Aix-la-Chapelle.* , In December, 1750, this plate was delivered to Colonel William Johnson, at his residence on the Mohawk, by an Indian chief, and shortly afterwards it was sent to Governor George Clinton, of New York. The Indians represented that they had stolen the plate from Joncaire, one of Celoron's officers, at Niagara, "when on his way to the River Ohio." f This story, however, is quite improbable. Let us examine it. It was the fifteenth of June that the expedition set out from La Chine. On the sixth of July they reached Niagara, and on the sixteenth of the same month they arrived at the point on the shore of Lake Erie where they turned southward. After a very tedious and toilsome passage, they arrived about noon, July 29, at the confluence of the Conewango and Allegheny. Here they determined to deposit the first plate; but in filling in the names the name * This is the translation of the inscription as we find it in the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, Vol. V. p. 510. t Governor Clinton to Lords of Trade, Dec. 19, 1750. THE STOLEN PLATE. 1 89 Tcha-da-koin was erroneously inserted in the place of Conewango. It was such an error as, under the cir- cumstances, might easily occur. The party had only recently navigated both streams, and in the mind of the artist both names were present, and he inadvert- ently insertedthe wrong name. The error, we may believe, was quickly detected, perhaps by the keen eye of Celoron himself. The plate was spoiled, and was thrown aside as useless. Another plate was at once prepared, and buried ' ' at the foot of a red oak, " as Celoron has recorded it, on the left bank pf the Allegheny, opposite the mouth of the Conewango. This latter plate has never been found. Celoron's party likely remained here until the next day, when they proceeded on their way down the Allegheny. Some months afterwards, we will suppose, some straggling Indians passing the spot where Celoron had encamped, found the plate that had been thrown aside, and carried it off. Such we believe to be the true history of the affair. That the Indians stole the plate from Joncaire, at Niagara, we think altogether unlikely, for the following reasons : First, the mere improbability of the thing. The Indians who were in Celoron's party, or who were in league with the French, would not likely steal it; in the first place, because it was a thing that would be ipo THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. of little value to them if they had it ; and because to steal it would have been such a breach of trust and friendship as they would not have been guilty of. Other Indians than those above specified would have no opportunity to steal it; besides they were alarmed by the expedition and kept aloof from it as much as possible; in fact, they generally, as we have seen from the history of the expedition, fled at the approach of the French. They certainly showed no disposi- tion to loiter about and pilfer from the French camp. Secondly, the Indians who brought the plate to Colonel Johnson were very much exercised over it, and very anxious to know the meaning of " the dev- ilish writing," as they called it, on the plate. Now, it is inconceivable if they were in such a frame of mind they would have retained the plate in their possession for nearly eighteen months before at- tempting to learn the meaning of it. -It is very much more likely that they did not have the plate long in their possession, but hastened off with it to Colonel Johnson, the agent of the English among the Indians, to have the matter explaiijed. We in- fer, therefore, that the plate was not found until the latter part of the year 1750, or more than a year after it had been thrown aside by the French. In the third place, so far back as the sixth of July, THE STOLEN PLATE. I9I when the expedition was at Niagara, they could not certainly have known that they would be on the bank of the Allegheny river, and prepared to de- posit the leaden plate on the twenty-ninth of July. They had not been over the ^route before. Their way was beset with difificulties and dangers. Their progress was evidently much slower than they had anticipated. They could not predict with certainty that they would arrive there on the twenty-ninth of the month, and not on the twenty-fifth or the twenty- seventh, or any other particular day, and hence it. would not occur to them to insert a specific date, so long before, and at a distance so remote, in a leaden plate, which they would know could not be changed if the facts in the case should afterwards require it. This consideration alone, we think, amounts to a moral demonstration that the plate had not been stolen, as reported by the Indians. But the question may arise, why should they say they had obtained it in this way if they did not ? We can only answer that possibly the Indians who first came in possession of the plate, did not so re- port. It may have bi?en several weeks in reaching Colonel Johnson, and it may have passed through marly hands while in transitu ; and as there was no written record of the manner in which it had been 192 THE FRENCH IN THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY. obtained, the true account may have been lost or perverted in the meantime. In short, it may have: been only a variation of the old story of ' ' The Three Black Crows. " Or otherwise, while it may not be necessary to assume that the Indian is abnormally untruthful, yet, under certain circumstances, he may so far resemble his white brother as to be led into a misstatement of a fact, if he believed that the result would somehow redound to his own glorification or advantage. To the mind of the savage it might • have seemed much more in keeping with the charac- ter of an Indian brave to steal the plate from an tn- emy, or to procure it "by some artifice," as they re- ported it to Colonel Johnson, than to obtain it in any such simple, matter-of-fact way as picking it up from where some one had thrown it. Why they should represent that they had stolen the plate from Joncaire, rather than any one else, may not be a difficult question to answer. Joncaire was well known to the Indians of Canada and New York. He was a brave, resolute, enterprising man He understood the language of the natives perfectly, and had great influence among them. He, no doubt, had charge of the Indians attached to the party. An effort had been made to enlist a larger Indian contin- THE STOLEN PLATE. 1 93 gent, of which he was to have had the command,* but it was not successful. The other French officers were, perhaps, unknown, or but Httle known, to the tribes of western New York. Joncaire, as we have seen, was well known, and to their minds represented the expedition. To say, therefore, that they had stolen the plate from Joncaire was equivalent to say- ing they had stolen it from the French. From the foregoing considerations we are led to the conclusion that the leaden plate was not stolen from Joncaire, at Niagara, in July, 1749, but was foifnd at the mouth of the Conewango in the latter part of the year 1750. * See Letter of Governor Clinton to Governor Hamilton, July 24, 1749, in Pennsylvania Archives, Volume II. page 32. Early Virginia Claims in Pennsylvania. EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 1 97 EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYL- VANIA. The early inhabitants of Pennsylvania seem to have been doomed to trouble. Besides the Connect- icut claims, which took in almost the entire northern half of the province, Virginia laid claim to a large portion of the western part. The origin of this claim dates very far back in the history of the coun- try. The charter of 1607 granted to the London Company all the territory in America lying between the thirty- fourth and thirty-eighth degrees of north latitude.* In 1609 the charter was amended and enlarged, so that it comprised a region stretching two hundred miles north and the same distance south of Point Comfort, and extending ' ' up into the land throughout, from sea to sea, west and northwest." In 1623 the London * Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. I. p. mo. 198 EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. Company was dissolved by a decree of the King's bench, and the territory above described, except where grants had been made to private individuals, reverted to the crown. But the Virginians never fully accepted this decision. Penn's grant was re- spected; but any other territory within the limits of their charter they continued to claim, notwith- standing the action of the King's Bench. To ex- plore and occupy this vast domain was one of the most fascinating objects to the early Virginians.* It was to vindicate their claim to the valley of the Ohio that the youthful Major Washington was sent to the French posts in 1753. The authorities of Pennsyl- vania, however, now began to contend that the claims of Virginia overlapped the charter granted to William Penn, and some correspondence on the sub- ject took place between Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, and Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, in the years 1752 and 1753. In the early part of the year 1754, the Virginians undertook to secure possession of the country about the forks of the Ohio against the common enemy, the French, by building a fort on the point of land where the city of Pittsburg now stands ; but the latter, under Contrecoeur, descended the Allegheny, * See " The Knights of the Horseshoe," by Dr. Wm. A. Caruthers. EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 1 99 drove them away from the unfinished work, and themselves built a stronghold at the same place, which they called Fort Duquesne. The disputed territory remained in the hands of the French until the fall of Fort Duquesne, in the latter part of the year 1758. No revival of the dispute took place until January, 1774, when one Dr. John Conolly, whom Bancroft describes as "a physician, land-jobber, and subservient political intriguer," came from Vir- ginia with authority from Lord Dunmore, the gover- nor of that colony, and took possession of Fort Pitt, which had been dismantled by the British govern- ment, and named it Fort Dunmore. He also issued a call to the public to assemble as a militia at Pittsburg.* For this conduct he was apprehended by Arthur St. Clair, a magistrate of Westmoreland county, afterwards a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary and Indian wars, and thrown into jail at Hannastown. He was not held in durance long, however, but was released on bail and returned to Virginia. Here he was appointed by Dunmore a justice of Augusta county, which the Virginians con- tended embraced the territory in debate, and shortly returned to Pittsburg with a tolerably strong force. He captured the court at Hannastown and at Pitts- •Colonial Records of Penn.,Vol. X. p. 141. 2O0 EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. burg, on the ninth of April, 1774, and arrested the justices ^neas Mackay, Devereux Smith, and Andrew McFarlane, and sent them prisoners to Staunton, Virginia.* Conolly's high-handed proceedings called out a letter from Governor John Penn to Lord Dunmore,. in which he points attention to the performances of ConoUy, and, after complimenting his lordship by assuring him that he understands his character too well to admit the least idea that he ' ' would counte- nance a measure injurious to the rights of the Pro- prietaries of Pennsylvania, or which might have a tendency to raise disturbances within the Province," he proceeds to describe the boundaries of Pennsyl- vania. "The western extent of the Province of Pennsylvania," he says, "by the royal grant is five degrees of longitude from the river Delaware, which is its eastern boundary." From the two hundred and thirty-third milestone on the line run by Mason and Dixon, he continues, " a north line hath been since carefully run and measured to the Ohio, and from thence up to Fort Pitt," etc. From the various data, he says, ' ' the most exact calculations have been made by Dr. Smith, provost of our college, Mr. Rit- tenhouse, and our surveyor-general, in order to ascer- * Col, Rec, Vol. X. p. 169. EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 20I tain the difference of longitude between Delaware and Pittsburg, who all agree that the latter is near six miles eastward of the western extent of the Pro- vince. " He adds that if his lordship should still entertain any doubt respecting the matter, he hopes he will " defer the appointing of officers, and exer- cising government in that neighborhood, and suffer the people to remain in the quiet and undisturbed possession of the lands they hold under this Pro- vince," until some temporary line of jurisdiction can be agreed on, or until the "affair can be settled by His Majesty in Council. "J To this reasonable letter Dunmore made answer March 3, 1774, in which he contravenes the opinion of Governor Penn with respect to the boundaries of Pennsylvania, and adds, "In conformity to these sen- timents, you will easily see I cannot possibly, in com- pliance with your request, either revoke the commis- sions and appointments already made, or defer the appointment of such other officers as I may find nec- essary for the good government of that part of the country, which we cannot but consider to be within the Dominion of Virginia, until His Majesty shall declare the contrary." His lordship also resents the arrest and commitment of ConoUy, and demands J Col. Rec, Vol. X. p. 149. 202 EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. the dismission of St. Clair, "who had the audacity, without any authority, to commit a magistrate act- ing in the legal discharge of his trust;" unless, in- deed, Mr. St. Clair can prevail by proper "submis- sion," on Mr. Conolly, "to demand his pardon of me."* To this, on the thirty-first of March, Gov- ernor Penn replies in a long letter, in which he re- capitulates the history of the claim, etc., from the beginning. He declines, however, to dismiss Mr. St. Clair from his office ; and as it does not appear that the latter ever attempted to make any "sub- mission " to Mr. Conolly, it is likely he died at last without the benefit of Governor Dunmore's "par- don." On the seventh of May, James Tilghman and An- drew Allen were appointed commissioners on the part of Pennsylvania to settle the question in dis- pute, and on the nineteenth of the same month they reached Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia. At a conference with Governor Dunmore, he requested them to present their proposition "in writing," which they did on the twenty-third. The substance of the paper which they submitted was, that a sur- vey of the Delaware River should be made as soon as convenient, by surveyors appointed jointly by the *CoI. Rec, Vol. X. p. 156. EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 203 two colonies, from the mouth of Christiana Creek, or near it, where Mason and Dixon's line intersected the Delaware, to a point on the river in the same latitude as Pittsburg, ' ' and as much farther as may be needful for the present purpose." That Mason and Dixon's line should be continued to the end of five degrees from the Delaware, and that from the end of that line a line or lines should be run corre- sponding in direction to the courses of the Dela- ware, and drawn at every point at the distance of five degrees of longitude from that river ; and that Mason and Dixon's line thus protracted, with the said line or lines "similar to the courses of the Delaware," should be accepted by both parties as the line of jurisdiction between Virginia and Pennsylvania, un- til the boundaries of the latter province should be run and finally settled by " royal authority." f This proposition would have made the western boundary of Pennsylvania of the same form as the eastern. In reply to this, Dunmore, the next day, gave it as his view, that it could not possibly have been the intent of the Crown that the western boundary of Pennsylvania "should have the very inconvenient, and so difficult to be ascertained shape, as it would have, if it were to correspond with the course of the + Col. Rec, Vol. X. p. 182. 204 EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. river Delaware." He then proceeds to describe the boundaries of Pennsylvania as he understands them ; namely, on the north by a straight line from the Delaware on the 42d parallel westward five degrees ; on the south by a straight line westward from the circle drawn at the distance of twelve miles from New- castle to a meridian line which should pass through the western extremity of the northern boundary line ; that meridian line being, as he says, ' 'the limits of longitude mentioned in the royal grant, and no other, as it appears to me."* It is a fact worthy of remark that Governor Penn's proposition gave to Virginia nearly all that she claimed, while Dun- more's gave to Pennsylvania far more than she de- manded ; the boundary lines as he defined them be- ing almost if not quite identical with those at present established. Some further discussion on the subject passed be- tween the commissioners and Governor Dunmore, but no agreement could be reached. With respect to Fort Pitt, Dunmore absolutely refused to relin- quish his authority over that place "without his Majesty's orders," and as the end of the controversy he regretted that he could do nothing "to contribute to reestablish the peace and harmony of both colo- • Col. Rec, Vol. X. p. 184. EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. ,205 nies," and to evince his good intentions as well towards the one as the other.* Meanwhile Conolly's conduct was outrageous. He not only oppressed the people along the border, but stirred up a war with the Indians, f who committed great barbarities. Governor Penn did all he could to conciliate the Indians, but to little purpose. On the twenty-eighth of June he wrote to Lord Dun- more deprecating an Indian war, and begging that his lordship would join with him in endeavoring to ''prevent the further progress of hostilities." He also complains bitterly of the "behavior of Doctor Conolly," who, among other acts of outrage and lawlessness, ' 'seized upon the property of the people without reserve, and treats the persons of the magis- trates with the utmost insolence and disrespect," and is about sending out "parties against the Indians, with orders to destroy all they meet with, whether friend or foe."J The. records of the time are full of accounts of the ' ' great confusion and distress " of the inhabitants of Westmoreland county. In June, John Montgomery writes from Carlisle that he had just returned from Westmoreland • Col. Rec, Vol. X. p. 190. t Penna. Archives, Vol. IV. p. 528. t Col. Rec, Vol. X. p. 193. 2o6 EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. county, and that many families were return- ing to the eastern side of the mountains, while others were about "building forts in order to make a stand."* About the same time, .(Eneas Mackay writes from Pittsburg of ' ' the deplorable state of affairs " in that region, and says, ' ' We are robbed, insulted, and dragooned by Conolly and his militia in this place and its environs." Further, he says, " We don't know what day or hour we will be at- tacked by our savage and provoked enemy, the In- dians, who have already massacred sixteen persons to our certain knowledge." f Against these evils the law could furnish no protection. In February, 1775, the magistrates addressed a statement to Gov; Penn, in which they say: " Our difficulties on account of the Conolly party are now grown to an extreme. * * * Any person applying for justice to us, may be assured to be arrested by them. James Smith, Captain, was taken and bound over to the Virginic Court, for only applying to the laws of Pennsylvania for to have a banditti of villains punished for pulling down his house. "J It was in the course of the wai mcited by Diinmore and Conolly that the family of *Penna. Archives, Vol. IV. p. 505. •f- Penna. Archiyes, Vol. IV. p. 517. t Col. Rec, Vol. X. p. 234. EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 20/ Logan, "the friend of the white man," were killed at Captina and Yellow Creek.* As the difficulties between the colonies and the mother country developed, Dunmore and his lieuten* ant in mischief took strong sides against the former. In April, 1775, Dunmore threatened to free the slaves, and turn them against their ' masters. This threat caused great horror and alarm throughout the South, but could not stay the progress of events, and he himself, on the night of June 7th, 1775, was compelled to seek safety on board the " Fowey," an English man-of war, at York, and " thus left the An- cient Dominion in the undisputed possession of its own inhabitants." f Conolly soon joined Dunmore in his place of refuge. The further history of this worthy pair is not connected with our subject, and we cheerfully dismiss them from our page. In December, i "jyQ, the legislature of Virginia pro- posed a line of demarcation a little different from either of those that had been already suggested,. Their proposition was to extend the boundary of Virginia northward from the western extr^emity of the line run by Mason and Dixon to the fortieth par-* allel of north latitude, then due west to the curved * Doddridge's Notes, p. 232. + Bancroft's Hist. U. S., Vol. VII. p. 386. 208 EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. line proposed by Governor Penn. This was not ac- cepted by the Pennsylvanians. In the meantime matters continued in the same unsettled state as be- fore — the inhabitants of Westmoreland county were still distracted by the controversy, and the common cause of the colonies against Great Britain was "in- jured by this jdngling. " As the years went by, the matter pressed more and more upon the authorities, and it became necessary to do something. Finally, in the early part of 1779, George Bryan, John Ewing, and David Rittenhouse, on the part of Pennsylvania, and Dr. James Madison and Robert Andrews, on the part of Virginia, were appointed commissioners to agree upon a boundary between the States. They met at Baltimore on the thirty-first of August, 1779, and after a thorough consideration of the sub- ject of debate, they agreed as follows : ' ' To extend Mason and Dixon's line due west five degrees of longitude, to be computed from the River Delaware, for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and that a meridian, drawn from the western extremity thereof to the northern limit of said state, be the western boundary of said state forever." * This agreement, with some conditions which it is not necessary to specify here, was ratified and confirmed by the legis- + C0I. Rec, Vol. XII. p. 213. EARLY VIRGINIA CLAIMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 209 lature of Virginia, June 23, 1780, and by that of Pennsylvania, September 23, 1780. * In 1782, commissioners appointed by the two States interested ran the lines accordingly, but of course it was objected to by some of the Virginians, who claimed that it was only a temporary line. It was determined then to locate the lines perman- ently, and for this purpose, in 1783, the following commissioners were appointed : David Rittenhouse, ■John Lukens, John Ewing, and Captain Hutchins, on the part of Pennsylvania, and Dr. James Madi- son, Andrew Ellicott, Robert Andrews, and T. Page, on the part of Virginia. The lines were again run, and clearly and definitely marked on the ground, by cutting vistas through the woods, and setting up stone pillars at regular intervals. This work was accomplished in 1784, and ended all dispute in the matter. * Penna. Archives, Vol. VIII. pp. 352, 570. THE END. wwir(Wiitriiiw>'iiiii>i!*i|ii'.Wi'W«tiW«^^ mill miiii inLiipri I. I II I T __— __^— — ____^^ 'cmxwxMwmMimjs:! wwi « ».« » »..i i iiiiii p j t wfr W W W W il 'l ii .U !|i |,UH ' . 'i i| M >i » i ) F»w : ■ -j—nr "•"' — -^-™-^"'^^™^'^*"'''''«*-*™-— " ^.^^^^ i..iL_,-..4jiiiij.iiiiiii]»i>iii »ni"iii'iii iiiwiMMiwrMMiffnitmffnT^r^'nrfT' «IMM«MaMI