USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Allegheny in Allegheny County > Recollections of seventy years and historical gleanings of Allegheny, Pennsylvania > Part 4
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future home the locality above described.' His rude surround- ings, by indomitable energy and perseverance, were soon made to blossom as the rose, and gradually assume the appearance of comparative comfort. In a few years his humble log cabin was encompassed by well-cultivated fields, from which, by his untiring industry, he derived annually a bountiful harvest, the revenue from which afforded him a sufficiency for all his hum- ble wants.
In the midst of this agreeable condition of affairs, he became seriously impressed with the importance and wisdom of the scriptural declaration, "That it is not good for man to be alone," in view of which he straightway prepared himself to lay siege to the ruby-cheeked daughter of a neighboring farmer, wooed and won her. The nuptials were consummated in a much shorter period than is thought necessary by the belles and gallants of the present day. In the due course of time, a son, their only child, was born, whom they named Philip, and who was destined to act a prominent part in the event here described.
When the scene of our tale opens, he had attained his ma- jority, and was as comely a young farmer as six feet stature, fair proportions, and black eyes, could make him. On a clear and calm, but piercing cold, morning in the month of Decem-
I There was very little improvement at this point until after the close of the Indian war, in 1764. The only authentic account we have of its settlement, is the grant to Alexander McKee, assistant Indian agent, to improve the lands at the mouth of Chartiers Creek. The following is a copy of the same, taken from the original, and is in the hand- writing of the commanding officer at Fort Pitt : -
" By Henry Bouquet, commanding his Majesty's forces in the Southern District, permis- sion is hereby granted to Alexander McKee to occupy and build upon the land at the mouth of Shertee creek, on the south side of the Ohio. In consideration of which, he is to pay five shillings yearly, if demanded, and also to be subject to such regulations as his Excel- lency, the Commander-in-Chief, may order for the good of his Majesty's service.
"Given under my hand, at Fort Pitt, this 25th day of November, 1764.
" HENRY BOUQUET, Col. Commanding."
The above fails to specify the amount of land granted. I learn, however, from other sources, that the survey included an area of about fourteen hundred acres, a large portion of which is still in the possession of, and occupied by, some of the descendants of the grantee.
The original document covering this grant is now in the possession of Gen. Joseph Browne, who owns and resides upon a portion of the land conveyed.
J. E. P.
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ber, succeeding a tempestuous night, the sun rose in unclouded splendor upon the romantic highlands that overlook Chartiers. The damaging effects of the storm were visible wherever the eye fell upon the scene surrounding the home of Oliver Harris. On every hand were mighty forest trees that had succumbed to its fury, and lay in confused heaps. Along the margin of the river, as far as the eye could reach, extended a line of ice, which the violence of the storm and waves had massed, exhibit- ing a rare spectacle of ruin and desolation.
At an early hour of the morning above referred to, young Harris set out on a hunting excursion. As the country was harassed and disturbed by the frequent inroads of the Indians, who held dominion over all the country north of the Allegheny and east of the Ohio, extending to the great lakes, it was considered dangerous for hunters to venture alone far from home, in view of which fact he joined a party of eight or ten of his associates, who expected to be absent for several days. Their course lay along the west bank of the Ohio, as near to the same as the rugged nature of the ground would permit, never relaxing the wariness acquired by experience and knowl- edge of the intentions of a bloodthirsty and insidious foe. Owing to the ruggedness of the course traversed, they reached a point but a few miles from whence they set out. As the evening shades approached, they gained a locality well adapted to afford them both shelter and rest. Here they went into camp for the night. At this point, the steep and rugged rocks presented an almost unbroken wall, varied at short intervals by deep indentations and bold, projecting crags. Under one of these the hunters chose their shelter for the night. Having started a large fire, and posted guards at a convenient distance to prevent any sudden attack from lurk- ing foes, they drew near the cheerful blaze, and, taking from their haversacks a portion of the food which they had provided for the occasion, ate with appetites becoming men of their vocation. The wild loneliness of the place, the bright glare of the fire falling upon the river, and reflected back upon the rocks and on the guards who kept watch on the shore, and the group of hunters assembled around the fire, presented a scene
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of romantic interest and beauty. The air, which during the day had been clear and elastic, had now become dark and misty, indicating a fall of snow. Through the gathering vapors, that floated in agitated waves above the surface of the river, the sil- very moon, now in her first quarter, shed doubtful rays, that gambolled upon the waters, and glimmered through the forest. The brightest stars twinkled with a dull, sickly gleam, and the increasing western wind rushed in sudden gusts through the naked woods, whilst the angry waters of the Ohio in heavy surges were hurled against its shores. Silently the white, fleecy clouds rolled onward, until they formed a compact body, through which the faint rays of the queen of night could hardly penetrate. Soon the snow began to descend, at first in feathery flakes, which soon changed into more condensed par- ticles, denoting a change of temperature.
" I thought," said one of the hunters, breaking the profound silence hitherto observed, " that we should have a fall of snow ere long ; and I'm not often mistaken in my predictions of the weather."
" What reason had you for thinking so ? " asked one. " You are one of the prophets, who, for want of spectacles to extend their vision far enough forward, wait until time has brought them alongside of events, and then look back to see how they might have happened." This sally against the would-be weatherwise hunter brought a general laugh from the party, one of whom exclaimed, - '
" Ah! you're right, Philip. Peters has his prophesying eyes in the back of his head. He can see things clear enough after they have come to pass. Only let him get on the top of a hill, and he will soon tell you what the country is like beyond it."
" Every bird has its own song," retorted the other. "I haven't followed the woods, man and boy, for good thirty years, not to be able to tell an owl from a turkey-buzzard. The air was sharp enough in the morning to shave like a razor ; but for the last three hours the air hasn't been near so keen, and the haze has been gathering along the tops of the hills; and that's always, to my mind, a sure sign of falling weather. Since the setting of the sun, I've been watching the constella-
-
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A LEGEND OF THE " SHERTEE."
tion of the Bear, as Phil calls it, to the north yonder. I don't know what he calls it that for ; for I have shot many a bear, and them stars look no more like such an animal than like a stack of corn-fodder. Howsomever, people have different names for things ; and, as I was going to say, I've been noticing that con- stellation getting dimmer and dimmer for some time, till at last I couldn't see it any longer."
" You've heerd, maybe," said one of the circle, changing the subject, "the report they have up at the creek in regard to Luke Purdy and Watty Hughes."
" What is that ? " asked Philip.
" Why, they say that when they left home, without bidding good-by, they went on to Canada. One of my neighbors had the whole account from an Indian trader that stopped with him all night. He says they went first to Detroit, where Luke, hearing an alarm of pursuit, mounted his horse in haste, swam across the Detroit River, and rode full speed to Malden. He made a desper't leap from the high bank into the water, they say ; and it was well for his bones that he had a soft place to light on."
" He's a bold fellow, that Luke Purdy," says one. "But where are he and Watty now ?"
" Somewhere about the Upper Sandusky, I hear," replied the other. -
" They're both living with the Indians there, and pass for great men among 'em."
" Well," continued one, " Watty Hughes was always a nice, clever sort of a man : I'll say that much for him. But as for Purdy, why, I don't know; but, somehow, I never thought much of him. You mind when he was arrested as an enemy of the country, and imprisoned in Fort Pitt, and how he walked across the parade-ground, past the sentry, into the barracks, went out of the back-door, jumped over the wall, and was gone a good hour before he was missed. He was a fool, though, to give himself up again, when he might have got clear without any trouble. I reckon he didn't like to be called a runaway as well as a traitor, and so thought it best to come back and stand his trial."
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During the conversation, the dogs that attended the hunters, by their whining and restlessness, appeared to have discovered some object, to which they endeavored to direct the attention of their masters. They kept in continual motion to and from a part of the rocky cliff that projected considerably beyond the range to which it belonged, and beneath which the dim fire- light that gleamed upon it, showed a deep excavation, appar- ently the entrance of a large cavern.
"Come in, Hector ! Back, Ponto, I say! Why, what pos- sesses the creatures ?" exclaimed Peters, to two of the dogs that were more unruly than the others. "Hec has as good a nose as any dog in the settlement, and Pont's as knowing a slut as there's any 'casion for. But I wonder what the plague makes them so busy now. I don't believe there's a fox or coon about these rocks, for I was here the other day, and couldn't find the sign of a living thing. Be quiet, you whelps ! none of your howling ! There's no scent here for you worth a decent dog's trouble."
This expostulation was unheeded by the animals to whom it was addressed, and was instantly followed by the sharp report of a rifle, evidently discharged within a short distance of the hunters. The flash was distinctly seen by them all; and the bullet, striking the rocky wall near them, rebounded, and fell at their feet ; while the echo of the report resounded along the rocky bank, until it died away in low, dull murmurs among the hills. The hunters instantly sprang to their feet, and seized their rifles that reclined near them against the cliff. Scarce had the sound that had occasioned the alarm reached the ears of the vigilant hunters, when a man leaped with a light, agile motion, to a position within a few paces of where they stood. The instant he appeared, every rifle was brought to bear upon him.
"Who dares," exclaimed the intruder, "call Luke Purdy a runaway and a traitor ? Lower your rifles, you cowardly brag- garts ! or, if one man is enough to terrify you all, fire upon me, like dastards as you are, and then boast of having sent your bullets into the body of a single enemy."
Instinctively, all obeyed the order thus authoritatively given, by depressing the muzzles of their rifles.
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A LEGEND OF THE " SHERTEE."
" We're no more cowards than you, Luke Purdy," exclaimed Tom Peters. "It's not just the fair thing to call us so, when you've seen our courage tried in many encounters with the redskins. But I reckon you were in a sort of a passion and flustration of spirits like ; and so here's my hand, and it's all well again ; but you may thank Philip, there, that your carcass isn't as full of holes as an orchard in locust-time."
The matter being thus adjusted, Philip inquired of Purdy the cause of his sudden departure from his home, and his unexpected re-appearance.
-"It would profit you but little," replied Purdy, "to know what you pretend to be ignorant of. I did not leave Chartiers without good reason. Was I not an object of suspicion and reproach throughout all the settlement ? Was I not persecuted and vilified by every malicious settler on the Western frontier ? And for what? Because it was reported that I was the secret enemy of the whites; that I was the instigator of the Indians in their attacks upon your people : as if they had not sufficient provocation for revenge, without needing any persuasion from me! I would have lived quietly enough at my home, had not the senseless clamors of the settlers about the creek forced me to leave it, and seek refuge among the savages. And Walter Hughes, too, who so often kept back infuriated tribes from vengeance, and watched over the whites like a father, even he was not spared by his slanderous enemies. They thought to persuade him they did him honor by confining him in his own house ; while I, who was looked upon as a more contemptible traitor, was imprisoned in your fort, like a felon, among drunken vagabonds and soldiers. But my time of vengeance is coming. The mean, cowardly treatment I have received, the insults I have borne from the craven churls, -I have marked them all in my memory; and when the day of reckoning comes, I will wash the infernal record out with the blood of all who would have made me the victim of their malice. I will " -
Philip interrupted the enraged Purdy, and endeavored to mitigate his indignant feelings.
"I acknowledge, Luke, that you have been treated rather harshly. But you must admit that the whites had reason for
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HISTORICAL GLEANINGS OF ALLEGHENY.
severity, when the frequent massacres and burnings by the Indians had exasperated them, and compelled them to provide, by prompt and vigorous measures, for their safety."
" Massacres and burnings !" exclaimed Luke. "Who set the example of massacres and burnings ? Did not your cream- faced, black-hearted crew murder in cold blood the unsuspect- ing Indians, even when they were professing friendship for them, and perjure themselves by swearing to treaties they never intended to observe? Are not your lazy surveyors and land-pirates even now entering upon the lands of the natives, and driving them from their homes, under pretence of titles purchased with rum and gew-gaws, or asserted without even a show of right? It was but a few months ago that Dunmore led his cut-throats against the tribes on the Western rivers, and killed, burnt, and ravaged wherever he set his foot. And you talk of massacres and burnings ! And I suppose the dastardly assassins, Cresap and Greathouse, were only providing for their safety, when they treacherously slew the family of Logan at Grave Creek, and the women and children at Yellow Creek ! What think you of massacres and burnings now ?"
"The conduct of these men," replied Philip, " was as cruel and unjust as it was unauthorized. But, surely, the wanton acts of a few individuals " -
"A few individuals !" echoed Purdy. "A few individuals ! I tell you, Philip Harris, they did not act for themselves alone. They were but the unfeeling tools of those who set them on, and who kept themselves concealed until they should discover how their plot would work. No, no ! all are alike, dark, mur- derous, butchering ruffians ; and may I burn in the flames of perdition, if I do not drench my knife in their hearts' blood ! And you," he continued, addressing the others, "you, who think yourselves secure, and laugh at the words of one whom you call a traitor, and believe to be powerless as he is op- pressed, - dearly shall you recompense me for the wrongs which you and your abetters have made me suffer. Ay, scowl at me, and point your rifles against me ! I fear you not. I defy your malice, as I have escaped your snares. And mark me! Though I stand among you alone, I am not the friendless
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A LEGEND OF THE " SHERTEE."
wretch that you would make me. One word of mine can rouse more warriors, and better ones, than all your white settlements west of the Allegheny can muster. And when you think me a solitary fugitive, I will be in the midst of men who are as able and ready to avenge their injuries, as myself. I will be near you, though all your bloodhounds shall not be able to track my course ; and when you suppose that I am hundreds of miles distant, you shall see me at your doors, and hear my battle-cry, that shall be the signal for blood, death, and conflagration."
Having thus vented his vindictive feelings, he left the aston- ished hunters as suddenly as he had come among them, and disappeared among the recesses of the rocks.
"That's a queer chap," said Peters. "But he's a plucky fellow, and I've often heard Watty Hughes say that he is a capital interpreter to explain the lingo of the Indians. But he needn't think to scare a body so easy, or he will find his match about Shertee."
"I wonder," said one of the men, "where in the thunder that bullet came from. It whistled past my ear as sharp as the whizzing of a scared pheasant."
"It came out of my rifle, as true blue as ever shot forty-five to the pound," replied another, who had acted as one of the sentinels. "It was a pretty good miss, too; but the fellow came in such a hurry that I hadn't time to draw a sure sight."
When the day dawned, the sky was again clear, and the ground was covered with a thick mantle of snow. A short consultation was held by the hunters, the result of which was a resolution to proceed no farther on the contemplated hunt, but to return to the settlement, and warn the inhabitants of the danger which might be anticipated from the machinations of Purdy.
The time and events comprised in the period allotted to this legend, were favorable to the development of the character of this vindictive traitor. Cast by destiny in a sphere of life where his fortunes and his hopes depended for their success
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HISTORICAL GLEANINGS OF ALLEGHENY.
on his own unaided efforts, he had only divested himself of the diffidence which the mutual dependence consequent upon a refined state of society occasions, and assumed the bold, reck- less bearing which he supposed was adapted to his condition. He resolved to act only for himself, and to live among his fellows without sympathy in their happiness or sorrows. In thus separating himself, mentally, from the rest of mankind, he was, perhaps, insensibly impelled to the extreme, which is the invariable result of a course such as he had chosen for himself.
His opinions of self-dependence produced a fierceness of disposition and an unconciliating tone of expression which had an effect directly opposite to that which he had expected from them. Instead of making him out one who was careless and fearless of human power, only when it crossed his rightful path, they exhibit him as a man intent upon his own interest, regard- less of the claims of others, as a stern, overbearing despot, who would make his way to authority over all the human rights and feelings by which he might be opposed.
The occupation of a hunter inured him to peril and hard- ships; and the frequent combats in which he was engaged with hostile parties of savages on the Western frontier, taught him the alertness and skill so requisite in a partisan leader.
He had for several years been employed by the Superin- tendent of Indian Affairs on the Ohio, as an interpreter, for which situation his intimate knowledge of several aboriginal languages well qualified him. The dissatisfaction of the col- onies with the Government of England, which now foreboded a speedy resort to arms, extended to every individual having the most remote relation to its cause. Purdy, from his known attachment to the interests of the British crown, and his familiar intercourse with the Indian tribes of the Western and North-western frontiers, became an object of suspicion to those of the colonists who were intimately acquainted with his character. He was, together with Walter Hughes, the Indian superintendent, arrested, and placed in confinement, himself in the fort at the "Forks," and Hughes in his own house. By a bold and decisive movement, he effected his escape, and joined
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A LEGEND OF THE " SHERTEE."
a tribe of savages,' by whom he was chosen a leader in their contemplated raids on the colonial territory. His originally ferocious disposition was aggravated by his supposed wrongs, inflicted on him by the settlers on Chartiers, among whom he had lived, and against whom he swore deep and lasting hostility.
Only a few days had elapsed after the return of the hunters to the settlement, when rumors began to circulate among the settlers, that the hostile Indians had made formidable prepara- tions for a general attack upon the whole line of the Western frontier, and that a large force would soon assail the people who resided at Chartiers and its vicinity. Alarms had hitherto been so frequent that they no longer created the sensation which they at first excited. But the report of impending dan- ger was now so often repeated, and so well sustained, that the most careless and intrepid were induced to give it credence, and to join with the more timorous in recommending prompt measures for defence. All who were able to bear arms were enrolled, and placed themselves under officers of their own selection. Guards were detailed by lot, who assumed, in alter- nate parties, the duty of patrolling at night ; and even during the day, a small number of the most confidential among the inhabitants were constantly stationed as sentinels near the settlement.
A line of defence was hastily thrown up, consisting of a rude stockade, bastions, and blockhouses. In the walls of the block- houses, as well as in those of the dwelling-houses within the temporary fort, loop-holes were opened, through which those within might fire upon the assailants. All the cattle were driven within the stockade; and provisions, ammunition, and arms were collected, sufficient to enable the little garrison to make a long and determined resistance. A representation of the expected attack having been made by a committee to the commandant at Fort Pitt, that officer immediately detailed a party of ten soldiers, under the orders of a sergeant, to assist in the defence. It was usual for the inhabitants who resided on this part of the frontier, and who, from their exposed situa-
I Wyandots.
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HISTORICAL GLEANINGS OF ALLEGHENY.
tion, were liable to sudden attacks from the Indians, to retire for safety to the fort on the " Point." But so many inconven- iences resulted from removal from their farms, which in their absence were subjected to devastation by the invaders, that on this occasion it was resolved to provide for their own defence, and to contend with whatever force they could command against the attack which they anticipated.
The intimation of menacing danger, which so frequently came to the people who resided on our Western borders, at this early period, when communicated at night, generally con- sisted in a tap at the door or window of one or more of the houses which composed the settlement. This signal was so usual, that all who were accustomed to hear it, were readily aroused from their deepest slumbers whenever it was given.
One of the calmest days of midwinter was succeeded by a night of unusual inclemency. The wind howled in loud and furious gusts through the forest; and the snow descended in dense showers, drifting before the blast; while the Ohio and Chartiers, excited by the fury of the tempest, were raging with unwonted violence, bearing upon their swollen tides the immense masses of ice which had been broken up by a recent thaw. In accordance with the system of strict vigilance and discipline which had been established by the settlers for their defence, every precaution had been adopted to secure them from sudden surprise by a treacherous foe. Scouts were mov- ing in all directions around the exterior of the defensive lines, and wary sentinels walked the circuits appropriated to them immediately without the stockade. It was past midnight, and the storm continued with unabated violence, when, by the dim gleam of light which at intervals broke through the clouds, one of the sentinels discovered an object moving towards him slowly, and apparently anxious to escape observation. He kept his eye steadily upon it for several minutes, and his finger on the trigger of his rifle, in readiness to resist whatever peril might ensue. The object approached until it came within a few paces of him, keeping close under the stockade, and advan- cing with cautious and hesitating movement, when it rose sud- denly from the recumbent posture which it had held, and the
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sentinel distinctly saw the figure of a man, wearing the costume of an Indian warrior. "Stand, or die !" he exclaimed in a loud voice. The intruder instantly became stationary.
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