USA > Pennsylvania > Border warfare in Pennsylvania during the revolution > Part 2
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The Indians refused to quit the lands or give quiet possession to the people who came to settle in the Forks. Accordingly, in 1742, the Six Nations were brought to Philadelphia again to force the Delawares to leave the Forks. Their coming was necessary, not only for the peace of the Province at that time, but for its future se- curity in case of a rupture with the French.2 The situa-
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 1, p. 541
2 Governor Thomas' Proclamation, Votes of Assembly, vol. 3, pp. 481- 482.
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tion was explained, and the Six Nations were asked to remove the Delawares from the Forks, without giving the latter any chances to make a defense. This the Six Na- tions concluded to do, and, addressing the Delawares, up- braided them in scathing language, calling them "women," with no right to sell lands, and charging them to remove instantly without liberty to think about it. They might go back to New Jersey, where they came from, or settle at Wyoming or Shamokin. Their masters then forbade them ever to meddle in land affairs or pretend to sell any land.1 The Delawares dared not disobey. They at once left the conference and soon after removed-some to Wyoming and Shamokin, others to Ohio.
Having disposed of the Delawares, the Six Nations proceeded to a little business of their own at the same council. They had helped to defraud the Delawares on the Minisinks, (see page 13), but they were not willing to be defrauded themselves at the Juniata. The Six Na- tions complained that the Governor's people daily settled on the lands beyond the Blue Mountains. " In particu- lar," said they, " we renew our Complaints against some People who are settled at Juniata, a Branch of Susque- hanna, and desire that they may be forthwith made to go off the Land, for they do great damage to our Cousins, the Delawares." The Governor replied that magistrates had been sent to remove the settlers. The Indians inter- rupted him and said, " These persons who were sent do not do their Duty ; so far from removing the People, they made Surveys for themselves, and they are in League with the Trespassers : we desire more effectual methods may be used and honester Men employed.''2
The first unwelcome people who came to the lands of
1 Colonial Records, vol. 4, pp. 479-480.
2 Colonial Records, vol. 4, pp. 571-572.
3
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the Juniata were traders, to whom official reference was made at the council of Philadelphia in 1727. In the time of Penn the natives brought their peltry hundreds of miles to the Delaware river. In the course of time, as the de- mand for skins and furs grew greater, traders penetrated the depths of the forest to hasten and monopolize the trade. In this way the whole Juniata and West Branch regions were explored and advertised to adventurous set- tlers. These were generally a good class of people, but the Indians estimated them by the traders, who were no better than banditti.1 The settlers to whom the Indians referred in 1742 were Germans,2 who came several years in advance of all other white settlers, and boldly located themselves in the valley of the Juniata. The Governor and the Proprietors caused the settlers to be driven out in 1743. But at the same time the Irish were making set- tlements on unpurchased lands at Big Cove, Little Cove
and other places farther up the valley. Later, some per-
sons had the presumption to go into Tuscarora Gap, into Aughwick lying northward, into Shearman's Creek, into the valley of the Big Juniata, whence the Germans had been driven, and along the west side of the Susquehanna as far as Penn's Creek. So in 1748 the Government sent the sheriff with three magistrates and Conrad Weiser into these places to warn the people ; but they paid no heed, and continued their settlement.
The tension was somewhat relieved by the purchase of 1749, which included a strip of land on the east side of the Susquehanna, north of the Blue Mountains, as far as the Delaware. So much the Indians were willing to do, because they had seen on their way down from Onondago that many people, whom it would be difficult to remove,
1 Votes of Assembly, vol. 3, p. 555.
2 Colonial Records, vol. 5, p. 445.
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had settled on the east side of the Susquehanna. But they insisted on the removal of those on the west side. Procla- mations were accordingly issued, but again disregarded by the "squatters." In May, 1750, Richard Peters, the secretary of the Land Office, with some magistrates, was sent to remove them. On his way he met some Indians, who were delighted to learn of his mission, but feared it would prove like former attempts-the people would be put off now, but come back again next year ; and if so, the Six Nations would no longer bear it, but would do themselves justice. Mr. Peters, accompanied by the Indians, broke up the settlements at Shearman's Valley, at Augh- wick and Big Cove, everywhere dispossessing the people and burning the cabins. But, through a technicality, 1 Peters did not make thorough work, though he had de- clared before he went out on his mission-" That if he did not at this journey entirely remove these people, it would not be in the power of the Governor to prevent an. Indian war."
By the message which Governor Hamilton sent to the Assembly with Mr. Peters' report, it appears that what had been done proved of little avail.2 Within two years after the squatters had been led into the Carlisle jail, many of them returned, and others came with them. These continual aggressions greatly incensed the Indians. At a treaty in Carlisle, 1753, they very plainly expressed their views, but were unwilling to say or do anything from which their friendship might be suspected. They advised the authorities that Pennsylvania and Virginia forbear settling on the Indians' lands over the Allegheny Hills, being especially earnest in their renewal of the request to have the traders brought back to the Susquehanna ; that
1 Thompson's Alienation of the Indians, p. 72.
2 Colonial Records, vol. 5, p. 455.
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the Governor recall the people from the Juniata Valley, and that none others locate there until matters were set- tled between them and the French, "lest," they said, " damage should be done, and we should think ill of them."1 There was great anxiety now to strengthen the fidelity of all the Indians, as official records fully show. Communications by means of agents were numerous until the unfortunate purchase of 1754 kindled a flame, which could only be extinguished by a deluge of blood.
The treaty, at which the purchase of 1754 was made, was held at Albany, by order of the King (See page 5). The tract acquired by the Proprietary was bounded on the north by a line drawn from Shamokin to Lake Erie, and on the west and south by the utmost extent of the Province. It included nearly all of Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna. The lands where the Shawanese and Ohio Indians lived, and the hunting grounds of the Dela- wares, the Nanticokes and the Tuteloes, were all included. They were obtained by methods not described by the writers of the time, but strongly hinted at, and requiring a week to induce the Indians to execute the deed.2 The Indians were deceived by compass measurements, which they did not understand ; 3 the deed was irregular, with- out proper notice, according to the custom of the Six Nations ; and it gave away lands of tribes whose repre- sentatives had never signed it.+ Pennsylvania and Con- necticut had entered a race for the purchase of 1754; each was bent on getting it by fair means or foul ; and Penn- sylvania won, but it was a costly victory. Many of the Indian tribes seeing their lands gone joined the French,
1 Colonial Records, vol. 5, pp. 671-684.
2 Thompson's Alienation of the Indians, p. 78.
3 Colonel Weiser's Journal of Aughwick Conference, Colonial Records, vol. 6, p. 150.
4 Thompson's Alienation of the Indians, p. 79.
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and in the following year showed their resentment on Braddock's field.
Governor Morris, after the defeat of Braddock, told the Assembly "that it seemed clear, from the different accounts he had received, that the French had gained to their interest the Delaware and Shawanese Indians, under the ensnaring pretense of restoring them to their coun- try.''1 The Assembly themselves said, "It is rendered beyond contradiction plain that the cause of the present Indian incursions in this Province, and the dreadful calamities many of the inhabitants have suffered, have arisen in great measure from the exorbitant and unreason- able purchases made, or supposed to be made, of the In- dians, and the manner of making them. So exorbitant, that the natives complain they have not a country left to subsist in."2 John Penn himself, later on, admitted the just cause of the Indians' complaint for past injuries, and would gladly have removed them when it was too late. 3
The serious consequences to the British interests occa- sioned an appeal to the Proprietors through the Lords Commissioners of Trade, with the result that they agreed to limit the bounds of the purchase of 1754. A Commis- sion was sent over, authorizing and directing a treaty to be held for that purpose. Previous to this treaty, great exertions were made by the Quakers to bring about an accommodation with the Delawares and the Shawanese. First a treaty was made at Easton, 1756, with those living in Pennsylvania, but not until war had been declared on them by Governor Morris, and premiums offered for their scalps. Next, in conjunction with Forbes, in 1758, the Moravian missionary, Frederick Post, was sent to the Ohio
1 Votes of Assembly, vol. 4, p. 492.
2 Ibid, pp. 718-738.
3 Ibid, vol. 6, pp. 7-8.
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to induce the Delawares and Shawanese there to join their brethren of Pennsylvania in a treaty of peace. His mis- sion was successful; and coupled with Forbes' victory, it made the great convention at Easton in October, 1758, possible. There were present about 300 chiefs, and they had from the 7th to the 26th of the month to state all their complaints about ill-treatment and land-stealing. The result was that the Proprietors reconveyed to the Indians the land of the Albany purchase which had been unjustly taken. The treaty of Easton went far to restore the con- ditions that had prevailed before the walking purchase and the other aggressions, which had alienated the Red Man, and driven him into an alliance with the French.
Though the Proprietary were more cautious now not to offend the Indians, the settlers on the frontier had no more regard for savage rights than before. Proclamations had to be issued repeatedly, from 1761 to 1763, command- ing settlers on unpurchased Indian lands to evacuate and abandon them. However, the fearless Scotch-Irish and the determined New Englander pushed ever farther into the wilderness ; nor was the plodding German far behind them. Proclamations had no terror for these. All that the Quakers and the Moravians, and England herself, 1 could do to maintain peace was done; but their efforts could not prevent Pontiac's Conspiracy, with its horrible memories of Wyoming and Paxtang. It might be sup- posed that the fate of the Yankees on the North Branch, and the atrocities of the murder of the Conestogas, would have had a deterrent effect on the land-grabbing propensities of the frontiersmen ; but it had not. Sir William Johnson wrote to General Gage, in 1766, that murders were committed daily, and that Indian war was
1 Trumbull MSS., Mass. Hist. Society.
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inevitable. Proclamations against trespass were again issued, but they were of non-effect, and simply laughed at. What made matters worse, the Scotch-Irish and the Quakers had become bitter political enemies through the exigencies of the Indian wars, as the following doggerel plainly shows :
" Go on, good Christians, never spare To give your Indians clothes to wear ; Send 'em good beef and pork and beans, Guns, powder, flints and store of lead, To shoot your neighbors through the head ; Devoutly then make affirmation, You're friends to George and British nation ; Encourage every friendly savage To murder, burn, destroy and ravage ; Fathers and mothers here maintain, Whose sons add numbers to the slain ; Of Scotch and Irish let them kill As many thousands as they will, That you may lord it o'er the land,
And have the whole and sole command."
By an Act passed February 3, 1768, to continue in force one year, all persons were interdicted from settling on the Indian lands under the highest forfeiture known in society, namely, death without benefit of clergy.1 Exception was made in favor of settlers holding licenses from British officers to settle on the military roads leading to Fort Pitt.
All efforts to keep the settlers out of the unpurchased lands proving non-effective, the last purchase by the Pro- prietary from the Indians was made at Fort Stanwix, in 1768. The purchase included all of the Province not pre- viously bought, except the part lying north and west of a line which ran from a point just west of Fort Stanwix, south to the Susquehanna, thence up the West Branch
1 Smith's Laws, vol. 2, p. 570.
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and across to Kittanning on the Allegheny, thence down that river and the Ohio. It was understood by the In- dians that no white man was to settle to the west of the line agreed upon.1 In the deed there was an uncertainty as to what was the boundary on the northern side of the West Branch. To prevent controversy with the Indians, no lands were permitted to be surveyed to the west of Lycoming creek ; and a law was again passed punishing, by a fine of 500 pounds and twelve months' imprisonment, any person settling or surveying lands thereon. The reasons for passing such stringent laws were the fears of another war;2 but the law did not deter adventurers from squatting on forbidden lands of the West Branch. They were a little state of their own, administered justice after primitive fashion down to the time of the Revolu- tion, and by a singular coincidence passed a declaration of independence from Great Britain on the same day it was passed by the Congress in Philadelphia. In 1778 these "fair-play " men, so called from their methods of adjusting difficulties, paid dearly for their lands with the lives of their wives and children taken by the Indians in revenge for unfair treatment.
It is clearly seen that the trespass upon unpurchased lands in Pennsylvania, and the unjust and illegal trans- actions in land-so rare in the lifetime of Penn, but so common under the rule of his heirs-were fresh in the memory of the Indians at the outbreak of the Revolution nor could they have forgotten the unscrupulous dealings and licentious acts of the traders, the squatters of the Juniata and the Lycoming, the murder of the Conestogas, the rewards for scalps offered by Morris3 and John
1 Smith's Laws, vol. 2, p. 122.
2 Votes of Assembly, vol. 6, pp. 7-8.
3 Colonial Records, vol. 7, p. 88.
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Penn, 1 and other outrageous things unbecoming a Chris- tian people. With a civilized people these memories of past wrongs, formally adjusted by treaties, would not have been casus belli at the time of the Revolution. With the Indians they were, especially under the instigations of British emissaries and American traitors.
The first opportunity for British intrigues with the In- dians was found in Lord Dunmore's war. There was a belief, prevalent even before it began, that Great Britain, facing an inevitable conflict with the colonies, was anxious for an Indian war, to afford an excuse for the presence of her standing army in America.2 For many years after- wards Lord Dunmore himself was suspected of having had a secret understanding with the Indians, "looking to the almost certain results of the commotions which were agitating America."3 Though this view is not now held, he certainly made the acquaintance of men on the frontier in 1774, whom he afterwards regarded as fit in- struments to foment war on the frontier. Among these was Simon Girty, one of three white renegade brothers. They had been taken captive by the Indians while the French held Fort Duquesne, and they lived among the savages for some time. Simon Girty now lived at Pitts- burg, where Dunmore met him and employed him as a scout.4 In February, 1775, when the Virginia courts were organized in Western Pennsylvania, Simon Girty wasappointed magistrate by Governor Dunmore, and took the oath of allegiance to his majesty King George III. Of course, this was a formal proceeding incident to taking the office ; yet, though he was loyal for a time to the colo-
1 Colonial Records, vol. 9. p. 199.
2 American Archives, 4th Series, vol. 1, p. 1018.
3 Wither's Border Warfare, p. 177.
4 History of the Girtys, p. 27.
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nies, it is evident that he sided with the Mother Country at that time, from the fact that his name was on the " MS. List " of " Persons well-Disposed to his Majesty's Government, Living on the Frontiers of Virginia," sent by Dunmore to Lord George Germaine.1 This list finally reached Governor Hamilton, at Detroit, in 1777 ; and the next year we find Simon Girty and his brothers aiding the British in the border war against Pennsylvania, 2 having been recommended by Lord Dunmore as one of the num- ber having " extensive influence among the inhabitants" in Western Pennsylvania.
Another man met by Dunmore in 1774, and one of far more value to the British cause on the frontier, was Dr. John Connelly, the Benedict Arnold of Western Pennsyl- vania. He was born at Wright's Ferry, and was half- brother of General James Ewing, of York county, and a nephew of Colonel Croghan, the British Indian Agent. He distinguished himself in Pontiac's Conspiracy, and afterwards settled at Pittsburg. When the contentions for Western Pennsylvania arose between Pennsylvania and Virginia, he sided with the latter because he thought she had the best claims ; 3 and he became her willing ser- vant, being made Commandant of the militia, January Ist, 1774, by Lord Dunmore. In this position he became very obnoxious to the authorities of Pennsylvania, and was arrested by Arthur St. Clair, one of the justices of the peace for Westmoreland county. He was released by the sheriff, 4 but he took possession of Pittsburg, changed the name of Fort Pitt to Fort Dunmore, assailed the Penn- sylvania Court at Hannastown with an armed force of Vir-
1 Haldimand Papers.
2 History of the Gir tys, p. 59.
3 Narrative of John Connelly, Pa. Hist. Mag., vol. 12, p. 312.
4 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 4, p. 484.
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ginia militia, and fomented disturbance between the Penn- sylvanians and the Indians.1 The war of 1774 brought Dunmore to Pittsburg, where he met Connelly ; and the two went forth together to do battle with the Indians. From this association sprang up an acquaintance that ripened into an iniquitous conspiracy.
Before Lord Dunmore had issued his order for General Lewis' retreat after the battle of Point Pleasant, in Lord Dunmore's war, various events had occurred in 1774, be- ginning with the destruction of the tea at Boston, in March, and ending with the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia, in September; and actual hostilities were only a question of time. Dunmore and Connelly now plotted together in the interests of Great Britain. Con- nelly got a letter 2 from George Washington in February, 1775, which made him decide instantly " to exert every faculty in defense of the royal cause." He had all the secrets of Gage, Dunmore, Sir William Johnson, Sir Guy Carleton, and he knew also who on the frontier might join the King's cause. His first work was, by advice of Lord Dunmore,3 to "convene the Indians to a treaty, restore the prisoners, and endeavor to incline them to espouse the royal cause." In this he was successful, though Vir- ginia at the same time had her agents among the savages and watched his actions closely. He secured a large belt of wampum to be transmitted to Lord Dunmore, and from him to his Majesty, as a symbol of their support. The next step Connelly took was to induce as many gentle- men of consequence as possible to join him in defense of the British Government. The leading men approached by him were Simon Girty, Alexander McKee and
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 4, p. 527.
2 Pennsylvania Hist. Mag., vol. 12, p. 314.
3 Ibid, p. 315.
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Matthew Elliott. The first named has already been mentioned as personally well known to Lord Dunmore. Alexander McKee was a native of Eastern Pennsylvania, and early became an Indian Agent at Pittsburg. When Bedford and Westmoreland counties were organ- ized, he each time was made justice of the peace, and became a prominent citizen. Early in 1776, he had to give his parole to the Virginia authorities not to trade with the Indians in behalf of the Crown, nor to leave the vicinity of Fort Pitt. He had been very intimate with Connelly, 1 and in the " list of well disposed," which most likely was prepared by Dr. Connelly for Dunmore, McKee stands first.2 On March 28th, 1778, he, with Girty and Elliott, escaped to Detroit, and he was ever afterwards an active agent of the British against the Western frontier. McKee's defection was looked upon as foreboding great disaster. 3. Matthew Elliott, too, was an Indian trader, born in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was in the Indian country at the time of the battle of Point Pleasant, and brought the message to the Virginia Governor from the Shawanese, asking for peace. All these were well re- warded by Governor Hamilton for their traitorous act, especially McKee, who was made an Indian officer-Cap- tain and Interpreter in the Indian department. 4
Having attended to the preliminaries of his plot with Dunmore, Dr. Connelly now proceeded to see him, but he was arrested and taken to Ligonier. There Arthur St. Clair, who was the commander of the militia, " with the help of a cheerful glass," got at some of his designs, which were communicated to Philadelphia.5 Connelly
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 4, p. 695.
2 History of the Girtys. p. 32.
3 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 445.
4 History of the Girtys, p. 63.
5 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 4, p. 637.
---- 4
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managed to get free, but did not reach Lord Dunmore without another arrest. Between them a plan was formed in July, 1775, which promised fair. A co-operative body of troops from Canada and the Western frontiers of Penn- sylvania and Virginia, with Indian auxiliaries, was to be ready to act when General Howe would draw the atten- tion of the Americans northward. Connelly was dis- patched to Gage at Boston, who approved of the plan. But the Doctor could not proceed to Canada on account of the American invasion already begun. So he returned to Virginia, where Lord Dunmore gave him a commission to raise troops on the frontier, and with a body of Cana- dians and Indians form a junction with his Lordship at Alexandria. He got as far as an inn, five miles beyond Hagerstown, Md. He had an address 1 with him from Lord Dunmore to Captain White-Eyes, which was de- signed to influence the Indians against the Americans in case of hostilities, by offering them the King's protection in the possession of their lands. This speech was enclosed in a letter written by Connelly 2 to John Gibson, Esq., near Fort Dunmore. In this letter he tried to persuade his friend on the frontier not to cast his lot " with enthu- siasts, whose ill-timed folly must draw upon them inevi- table destruction." The letter and the enclosed contents fell into the hands of some Maryland Minute Men, and they arrested Connelly. He was sent to Philadelphia and confined in jail, by order of Congress, in January, 1776. He was restored to liberty, by an exchange of prisoners, in October, 1780. He immediately formed another plan on paper to attack the frontiers, possess himself of Pitts- burg, and fortify the passes of the Alleghenies with pro- vincial troops and Indian auxiliaries. It was not acted
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 4, p. 684.
2 Pennsylvania Hist. Mag., vol. 12, p. 408.
.
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upon, however, by the British. So he entered the army of Cornwallis in Virginia, and was again captured by the Americans and held as a prisoner of war until 1783, when he went to England with the defeated army of Great Britain.
The advantage to the British of an offensive and de- fensive alliance with the Indians, thus early perceived by Connelly and Dunmore through the exigencies of the war of 1774, became apparent to the English Ministry and the American Congress as soon as the Revolution became a fact. Scattered for 1,500 miles along the whole frontier, the savages were desirable friends or formidable enemies to either Great Britain or the Colonies. In the wars be- tween the English and the French, it had been customary on each side to employ them as auxiliaries. In the com- petition for their friendship at this time, the British had great advantages. The expulsion of the French from Canada was still fresh in the memory of the Indians, and inspired ideas of martial superiority on the part of the British. By the non-importation act, the Colonies had debarred themselves from importing the articles necessary for Indian wants.1 Since 1754, the transactions with the Indians had been mostly carried on by Superintendents (See page 5), appointed and paid by the King of Great Britain. These being under obligations to the Crown, and expecting further favors, generally used their influ- ence with the Indians in behalf of the mother country. In Pennsylvania the deputy agent was Colonel George Crog- han. Born in Ireland, but coming to Pennsylvania, he settled near the site of Harrisburg, and was an Indian trader as early as 1746. Having acquired the confidence of the Indians, he was made deputy agent under Sir Wil-
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