Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 3

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192

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HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

which simply means the forks; but there was no Indian village located there. Shannopinstown, a Seneca village, called after a chief of that name, was situated on the eastern bank of the Allegheny River about two miles above its confluence with the Monongahela; but no mention is made of it after the year 1749. Céloron, in the journal of his expedition, says that it is the prettiest place he saw on the Beautiful River. Occasion will be presented later of speaking of the topography of Pittsburg, and the changes that have been made in it in the lapse of time.

It would be impossible to estimate the Indian population of the territory immediately surrounding the headwaters of the Ohio; indeed, the roving habits of the savages make it impossible to say that there was any permanent population at all. When Conrad Weiser visited the Indians at Logstown, on the north bank of the Ohio some eighteen miles below the confluence of the rivers, in 1748, it was reported that there were at that time 789 warriors of various tribes in the western part of Pennsylvania, whose representatives attended the council. But this is too indefinite to base any estimate upon. Indians were always in and around the forks, but their numbers varied with the hunting and fighting seasons, and they' were never many.

Owing to the equitable treatment of the Indians by the Penns, they were long on friendly terms with the whites, and traders penetrated as far as. San- dusky before the middle of the last century. Principal among these was George Croghan, who emigrated from Ireland sometime before 1746, in which year he opened a trading house on the Susquehanna, opposite Harrisburg. A few years later he established himself at the mouth of the Beaver River, where he was found by Conrad Weiser on his trip west, already referred to. From that time he was intimately connected with Indian and pioneer affairs, and exercised great influence, being for a time Deputy Indian Agent under Sir William John- ston. Others soon followed the example of Croghan, and soon the Indian trade was very extensive. But the advantage was with the traders; for, although they supplied the Indians with many useful articles, especially firearms, of which at least the Eastern Iroquois were in possession as early as 1620, the savages soon lost a measure of their former independence, and were forced to depend, to a great extent, on the whites for many things that were now thought necessary. And the possession of firearms by the Indians was not so great an advantage as might at first sight appear, because they had to depend on the whites for ammuni- tion and the repair of their guns, and their report frightened away the game they sought and gave notice of their presence to prowling enemies. On the other band, the whites learned lessons from the Indians, especially in hunting, traveling through the forests, canoe-making and navigation, and especially in frontier war- fare.

Gradually the whites encroached on the hunting grounds of the red man, and, though purchases were made from time to time, and it was the intention of the proprietary government not to occupy their lands until after they had been purchased, this purchase was little more than a formality, so trifling was the · amount received by the Indians. Nor was this their only grievance; pioneers did not respect the terms of the purchases when it was to their interest to dis- regard them, but settled wherever they saw fit or felt themselves strong enough to hold possession. The Indians soon became convinced of the painful truth that the whites were bent upon taking possession of their lands, willingly or unwillingly, and they first complained, then offered resistance, and it was this that led to the first Indian wars. But these complaints and this resistance gener- ally led to further purchases, and the Indians were gradually forced to retire before the advance of civilization, if indeed it merited, in many cases, the name of civilization. The remark of Mr. Francis Parkman that: "Spanish civiliza-

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tion crushed the Indian; English civilization scorned and neglected him; French civilization embraced and cherished him," is far more than a flight of the imagi- nation. c

A new epoch was about to be inaugurated for the territory around the head- waters of the Ohio, and especially for the spot where that majestic river takes its rise. Two nations had already learned that this spot was destined by nature to be the key of the West, and the success of either must, in the nature of things, be the deathiknell of the red man. But the struggle for its possession between the French and English will form the subject of a separate chapter, and will not, tor that reason, be taken up in this place. So friendly had the relations between the English and the Indians been up to this time that messengers had been sent from the tribes to the proprietary government on various occasions to treat of inatters of mutual interest and advantage; and, though these generally contained complaints or remonstrances on the part of the Indians, owing to the encroach- ments of the pioneers, they were not sufficient, in the language of the Indians, to break the chain of friendship. The last of these before the French and English war was in the summer of 1747, when it was agreed that a messenger would be sent by the Governor of Pennsylvania the following spring with presents for the Indians on the Ohio. This was done; but being more intimately connected with the struggle between the English and French will come up for treatment under that head. In 1748 the Ohio Land Company was formed, which received from the crown a grant of 500,000 acres of land, on certain conditions, on the south side of the Ohio, between the mouths of the Monongahela and Great Kanawha rivers. The Indians were anxious to have a fort built at a place on the south side of the Ohio, three miles below its head, now known as McKee's Rocks, for the better protection of the traders, and the more certain supplying of the Indians with necessary articles. This fort was never built, for a storm was about to burst on the now peaceful territory, which was to end in the permanent occupation of the country by the English, and the final expulsion of the Indians and their later allies-the French. This will come up for treatment later on; suffice it to say that during the French occupation, that is, from April, 1754, to November, 1758, the French held possession of the forks, and either conciliated the Indians by kind- ness, or awed them into submission by force. During this time the forks was the center of the military operations of the French and Indians, and the whole frontier, even to the east of the Susquehanna, was the scene of untold horrors from the incursions of the savages and their little less inhuman allies.

When, at length, the English gained possession of the forks and built Fort Pitt, the Indians were so embittered against them by the instigation of the French that they were no longer to be trusted, even when they professed friendship. And this feeling of hatred was strengthened from the evidences they were daily having of the truth of what the French had been constantly impressing on their minds, that the English were bent on nothing less than expelling them from their ancestral hunting grounds and themselves taking possession of them. They were driven to desperation at the thought that their former allies, the French, were now expelled from the territory, and that they . must in future fight their battles alone. The treaty of peace between the English and the French, and the surrender of their posts by the latter, con- firmed this melancholy conclusion. Attempts were made to unite the tribes against the common enemy, but for want of a competent leader they fell through. At length a leader was found, who must be regarded as one of the most remark- able characters in history-Pontiac, the chief of the Ottawas.

The story of his conspiracy almost surpasses belief, and were it not for the facts, scarcely one could be found to give it credit. That a rude savage should conceive the thought of driving all the palefaces into the sea; that he should

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succeed in uniting tribes in one common purpose that had been mortal enemies for centuries; that he should arrange the time and manner of the attack on the various forts so successfully that no one suspected the danger till the storm was about to burst on them; and that he should actually succeed in destroying eight of the twelve forts on the frontier, and put these in the greatest jeopardy, is one of the most daring and successful instances of strategy the world has ever seen. Had relief failed to rcach Fort Pitt for one week longer, there is little doubt but the savages would have taken it, and would have driven the whites to the Delaware, if not literally "into the sea." But relief did reach the fort in time, although not till after one of the bloodicst battles in all Indian warfare had been fought and won at Bushy Run, 25 miles east of Pittsburg. Pontiac was not so sanguine as some of those who planned attacks on the whites before him; he knew full well that the Indians, single-handed, were not able to cope with the English, and his intention was to reinstate the French, whom he knew his people could depend on. Says Mr. Francis Parkman, in his admirable history of this remarkable war: "Pontiac adopted the only plan consistent with rcason-that of restoring the French ascendancy in the West, and once morc opposing a check to the British encroachment. With views like these, he lent a greedy ear to the plausible falsehoods of the Canadians, who assured him that the armies of King Louis were already advancing to recover Canada, and that the French and their red brethren, fighting side by side, would drive the English dogs back within their own narrow limits. Revolving these thoughts, and remembering that his own ambitious views might be advanced by the hos- tilities he meditated, Pontiac no longer hcsitatcd. Revenge, ambition and patriotism wrought on him alike, and he resolved on war. At the close of the year 1762 hc sent ambassadors to the different nations. They visited the country of the Ohio and its tributaries, passed northward to the region of the upper lakes and the borders of the River Ottawa; and far southward toward the mouth of the Mississippi. Bearing with them the war-belt of wampum, broad and long, as the importance of the message demanded, and the tomahawk stained red, in token of war, they went from camp to camp and village to village. Wherever they appcared the sachems and old men appeared to hear the words of the great Pontiac. Then the chief of the assembly flung down the tomahawk on the ground before them, and holding the war-belt in his hand, delivered, with vehement gestures, word for word, the speech with which he was charged. It was heard everywhere with approval; the belt was accepted, the hatchet snatched up, and the assembled chiefs stood pledged to take part in the war. The blow was to be struck at a certain time in the month of May following, to be indicated by the changes of the moon. The tribes were to rise together, each destroying the English garrison in its neighborhood, and then, with a general rush, the whole were to turn on the settlements of the frontier. The tribes thus banded against the English comprised, with few unimportant exceptions, the whole Algonquin stock, to whom were united the Wyandots, the Senecas, and several tribes of the Lower Mississippi. The Senecas wcrc the only members of the Iroquois Confederacy who joined in the league, the rest being kept quiet by the influence of Sir William Johnston, whose utmost exertions, however, were barely sufficient to allay their irritation. While thus on the very eve of an outbreak, the Indians concealed their designs with the dissimulation of their race. The warriors still lounged about the forts, with calm, impenetrable faces, begging, as usual, for tobacco, gunpowder and whisky. Now and then some slight intimation of danger would startle the garrison, but it would soon be forgotten and the sense of security would return."

The small garrison at Fort Pitt was commanded by Colonel Simeon Ecuver, a very prudent and couragcous officer, who entertained no apprehension of an

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

Indian outbreak until a short time before it took place, when all the Indians withdrew from the vicinity of the fort, taking their possessions with them, and without giving any reason for their action or affording any clue to their future designs. This naturally aroused the suspicion of the commander and his men, and the fort was immediately put in the best condition for defense, and every precaution was taken to guard against a surprise. Soon it became evident that an attack was contemplated and might be expected at any moment; bands of prowling savages were seen in the woods near the fort, acting in a very suspicious manner; and at length, on the afternoon of June 22, 1763, the siege was begun in earnest. To render the position of the garrison well nigh hope- less, all communication was cut off between it and the east of the mountains, although the commander-in-chief of the English forces soon became aware of the danger in which the fort was placed. But the characteristic tardiness of the Quaker government would have proved fatal had it not been that General Amherst sent forward Colonel Henry Bouquet, with all haste, with a force of a little less than 500 men and a train of provisions, from Bedford, where he then was. In the meantime the attack was kept up, with little intermission, on the fort; and, although the greatest precautions were taken to protect the men, the garrison suffered some loss. But the greatest danger arose from the con- sumption of ammunition and provisions, which were daily growing less, and threatened soon to be entirely exhausted, if relief did not arrive. Still Ecuyer maintained a defiant manner toward the Indians, who, on several occasions, asked him to surrender, and offered to spare the garrison. He knew they were not to be trusted, and, besides, he was not the man to surrender as long as there was a shadow of hope to maintain his position.

In the meantime Bouquet, who was pushing forward with that energy and dispatch which characterized all his movements, soon passed Fort Ligonier, which had also been threatened, and was proceeding west, when he was attacked by a large force of Indians who had been carefully watching his movements. The garrison was ignorant of his near approach, when suddenly the Indians raised the siege, and set out in a manner that convinced the com- mander that relief must be near, and that the Indians were bent upon attacking the advancing forces, and, if possible, cutting them off. At this time Bouquet had reached a point about twenty-five miles east of the fort, known since as Bushy Run, where, about one o'clock on the afternoon of August 5th, he was suddenly attacked by a large force of savages with great determination. But he soon placed himself on the defensive, and fought, though at a great disad- vantage and with serious losses, till night put a stop to the combat. Scarcely, however, had the morning dawned, when the Indians renewed the attack with even greater determination, and for hours the issue was uncertain, till Bouquet made a strategetic movement. by which he succeeded in entrapping and cutting a large part of the savage forces to pieces, whereupon they withdrew from the field, carrying their dead and wounded with them. Bouquet's loss in killed and wounded was large, but that of the enemy was much larger, although the number could not be ascertained with certainty. Their principal loss was in their chiefs, quite a number of whom were killed. It was the bloodiest and most decisive battle in all Indian warfare up to that time, and the most crushing blow the savages had ever sustained at the hands of the English. Bouquet was permitted to advance without further molestation than a few random shots from prowling savages. When he reached the fort the siege had been raised, but he found the gallant Ecuyer and his brave band in the last extremity from exhaus- tion and want of provisions and ammunition.

Bouquet was not, however, satisfied with his successes. The woods were alive with bands of prowling savages, ready to attack supply trains or fall upon

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the unprotected settlements. So threatening had they become that Governor John Penn issued a proclamation in 1764, offering rewards for their capture or their scalps; for every male above ten years of age captured, $150, or his scalp, being killed, $134; for every female, or male under ten years, captured, $130, or for the scalp of such female, killed, $50. The only safety for the settlements, how- ever, was the striking of such a blow against the tribes west of Pittsburg as would strike terror into them and teach them to respect the power of the whites. No person was better fitted for this undertaking than Colonel Bouquet, who had shown himself so capable of coping with the Indians under the most unfavorable circumstances. General Gage, who had succeeded to the command of the English forces in America, resolved to attack them at two different points; on the north, near the shores of Lake Erie, and in Central and Southern Ohio. The forces for the latter were placed in command of Bouquet, who set out for the Indian country on October 3, 1764. Following the north bank of the Ohio to the mouth of the Beaver River, he continued his march to the Muskingum, where a number of Indian villages were located, which it was his intention to destroy. He was soon in the heart of the Indian country, and his firmness struck terror into the breasts of the savages, who could neither deceive him with prom- ises, intimidate him with threats, nor meet him on the field of battle. Holding on his course he refused to treat with them till he had reached the termof his journey and not then till they had delivered up all the prisoners they had taken in their raids on the frontier. To convince them that he was not to be deceived or deluded, he detained a number of their principal men as hostages till they had complied with his demands. After some delays he succeeded in the object of his expedition without striking a blow, yet for the Indians it was a crushing defeat, and, worst of all, it occurred in the very heart of the country where they felt themselves beyond the reach of molestation.

The frontier was now permitted to enjoy a season of comparative security, and the garrison at Fort Pitt had little to do beyond occupying the place. But settlers continued to take up lands west of the mountains, especially in South- western Pennsylvania, the Indian claim to which had not yet been extinguished by purchase, although both the king and the proprietary government had for- bidden them to do so. In compliance with these prohibitions, General Gage instructed Alexander Mackay, who commanded a detachment at Red Stone, now Brownsville, to require the settlers to withdraw from the lands they were occupying. He accordingly issued an order, dated June 22, 1766, to all those who had settled west of the mountains, as he tells them, "to collect you together and inform you of the lawless manner in which you behave, and to order you all to return to your several provinces without delay, which I am to do in the pres- ence of some Indian chiefs now along with me." But the settlers cared little for such orders, and the boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Virginia tended to complicate matters. Both General Gage and Governor Penn com- plained to the home government of their inability to apply an effectual remedy to the evil. The result was a renewal of Indian raids on the frontier, small bands falling on the defenseless settlers, murdering and scalping or taking prisoners, such as they could succeed in surprising, stealing whatever was worth carry- ing off, and burning their rustic homes. Greater activity now prevailed at Fort Pitt, and small bands of soldiers were kept out scouring the country; but they were only partially successful, owing to the secret and rapid movements of the savages and their knowledge of the territory. The only effectual remedy was to extinguish the Indian claim to the lands; for despite the continual dangers to which the settlers were exposed, they still persisted in occupying the Indian lands. A treaty was accordingly arranged to be held at Fort Stanwix-the pres- ent Rome, New York-in October, 1768, and on the 24th of that monthi the

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Government ratified the purchase from the Indians of all the territory in Penn- sylvania east and south of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, from Kittanning to- the southern and western boundaries of the colony, and extending east to the last purchase. This embraced the lands upon which the incipient city of Pittsburg was beginning to rise.

Settlements began to increase, although the savages committed occasional depredations. So secure was the country thought to be that orders were given in the fall of 1772 for the dismantling of Fort Pitt, although the settlers protested against it on the ground that it would embolden the Indians and increase their depredations. No sooner was the fort abandoned than a new trouble arose. The boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Virginia, which had excited but little attention up to this time, and which we shall have occasion to treat at length in a subsequent chapter, now suddenly broke out with great violence, and destroyed the peace of the entire western part of the colony till the beginning of the Revolution. Early in 1774, Dr. John Connolly, a strong partisan of Lord Dunmore, the Governor of Virginia, took possession of Fort Pitt in the name of his master, and changed its name to Fort Dunmore. The details of this disturbance belong to another part of this history, and it is here referred to merely as a connecting link in the history of the Indians.

The outrages perpetrated during Dunmore's war so exasperated the Indians that they began to harass the settlements, and the English at Detroit, and the successor of Sir William Johnston among the Iroquois, exerted all their influ- ence in stirring them up against the Americans and the cause of freedom. Dur- ing all these years the entire frontier, from the northern limits of Westmore- land County to the southern boundary of the State, was the scene of incessant raids and massacres. No settlement was secure for a moment; numerous forts and blockhouses were built to defend the settlers or afford a place of retreat for their families, and both the national forces and the local volunteers united-not always harmoniously-for the common defense. The whole period till the year 1783 was one continued series of horrors and bloodshed, and it forms the darkest page in our early history, worse in Western Pennsylvania than during the French occupation. The last serious raid was that which culminated in the burning of Hannahstown, near Greensburg, July 13, 1782. During all these troubled times Fort Pitt was the center of supplies and operations, maintaining more than ever its claim to be regarded as the key of the West.

But the time had come for the final extinction of the Indian title to the remaining portion of the State, and their withdrawal forever from the soil of Pennsylvania. A treaty was accordingly held at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1784, when the territory north and west of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers was made over by the Six Nations to Pennsylvania. This purchase was confirmed by the Wyandots and Delawares at Fort McIntosh, which was located at the mouth of the Beaver River, by a deed dated January 21, 1785. This sixth and last purchase was added to Westmoreland County, which at that time comprised all the western part of the State with the exception of Washington and Fayette counties. But though their legal title was extinguished, the Indians continued to make occasional raids, the settlers west of the Allegheny could not feel themselves entirely secure, and a small garrison had still to be maintained at Fort Pitt.

Piece by piece the red man saw himself forced to relinquish his ancestral hunting grounds; and though it was ceded by purchase, his heart still clung to it, and a feeling possessed him-and that feeling was very often based on justice-that he had been cheated out of it. Beneath a stolid appearance, a feel- ing of hatred and a desire of revenge slumbered in his savage bosom, calmly awaiting a favorable opportunity of manifesting itself. The Indians determined

James 'Bara

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to make a last effort to regain their lost possessions, and, in 1789, stimulated by the English, who still held Detroit, they began to menace the frontier settle- ments. Fears were entertained of a general outbreak of hostilities, and the Secretary of War, General Knox, wrote to Major Isaac Craig, who commanded at Fort Pitt, which was then only a ruin, to throw up a fortification to defend the town in case of an attack. Fort Lafayette, of which we shall have occasion to speak in a subsequent chapter, was accordingly built in view of the impending danger. The defeat of General Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwestern Territory, by the Indians, November 4, 1791, for which he was unjustly cen- sured, even by Washington, emboldened the savages, and filled the settlers, who had counted so much on his expedition, with consternation. A second expedition was fitted out and placed in command of General Anthony Wayne. A better selection than that of "Mad Anthony," as he was deservedly called, could not have been made. He was the Phil. Sheridan of those days. He proceeded to Pittsburg to collect and drill his forces, arriving June 15, 1792. There and at Legionville, about eighteen miles below Pittsburg, on the north bank of the Ohio, he put his men through so careful a training that the success of his expedition was, as it were, assured, before he set out for the western country. It is unnecessary to enter into the details of his march; suffice it to say that he came upon the enemy on the Maumee River in North- western Ohio, August 20, 1794, and, in an engagement of but one hour's dura- tion, completely routed the Indians, and broke their power in the East forever. This and the battle of Bushy Run, both of which were so intimately connected with the vital interests of Pittsburg, were the two greatest victories secured over the Indians in the eighteenth century. From that day Pittsburg was free from all further alarm from the red man.

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Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 3

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co. Number of Pages: 1192

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192