USA > Wyoming > A sketch of the history of Wyoming > Part 9
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" Wyoming, January 18th, 1783."
Read January 21st, and ordered to lie on the table.
Immediately after the General Assembly had received notice of the decree at Trenton, they ap- pointed a Committee to confer with the Supreme Executive Council concerning the Wyoming con- troversy, and on the 20th. of February, that Com- mittee reported :- " That the persons now settled at Wyoming, yielding obedience to the laws, are undoubtedly entitled in common with other citi- zens of this state to protection and the benefits of civil government." The committee also recom- mended that commissioners should be appointed by the General Assembly to go to Wyoming to examine the state of the country, to act as magis- trates, and to recommend what measures the gov- ernment should adopt in relation to the settlers.
Accordingly on the 25th of February the Assem- bly appointed William Montgomery, Moses McLean, and Joseph Montgomery, who were di- rected to attend at Wyoming on the 15th. of April.
These commissioners reported that a reasonable compensation in land should be made to the fami- lies of those who had fallen in arms against the common enemy, and to such other settlers as had
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a proper Connecticut title, and "did actually. re- «side on the land at the time of the decree at Tren- ton, provided they immediately relinquish all claim to the soil where they now inhabit, and enter into contracts to deliver up full and quiet possess- ion of their present tenures, to the rightful owners under Pennsylvania by the first of April next."
The guard of continental troops which had been. posted at Wyoming being about to be withdrawn, the General Assembly directed two companies of rangers to be stationed at that place,, and on the 4th of March the Council "ordered, that Capt. " Thomas Robinson and Capt. Philip Shrawder, be " directed to march to Wyoming and take every "proper measure for maintaining the post there, "and for protecting. the settlement." Capt. Shrawder accordingly marched and on the 21st of March took possession of Wyoming fort, to which he gave the name of " Fort Dickinson," in honour. of the President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. On the 24th of the same month Capt. Robinson and his company arrived.
By the report of the Commissioners, and by the . manner in which the troops conducted themselves . after their arrival, the inhabitants discovered that the Government, of Pennsylvania considered the Court at Trenton as having decided, not the ques- tion of jurisdiction alone, but the right of private property also ; and that the troops stationed at Wyoming were intended not only to guard the set- : tlement against the common enemy, but also to pro- tect the Pennsylvania claimants in the posses- I
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sion of their lands. In this view of affairs the troops began to be considered by the inhabitants rather as their keepers, than their protectors. Capt. Robinson's company having been recalled, the Council in September ordered Capt. Cristie to proceed with his company to Wyoming and rein- force Capt. Shrawder, and also directed James Moore, Esq. a Major in the militia, to repair to that station and take the military command. Two Justices of the Peace, Messrs. Patterson and "West, were also directed to accompany the troops and to hold a tribunal for the adjudication of all questions under the civil authority. This rein- forcement arrived at Wyoming on the 29th of Oc- tober, and immediately commenced the exercise of their high functions in the most illegal and dis- graceful manner. Those liberal principles of jus- tice and policy which appeared to have actuated the legislature in recommending this appointment, were forgotten or disregarded by those to whom the Council had entrusted their administration ; and under this mixed government of civil and mili- tary authority the inhabitants of Wyoming suffered little less than when abandoned to their most cru- el and savage enemies. The unhappy husband- man saw his cattle driven away, his barns on fire, his children robbed of their bread, and his wife and daughters a prey to a licentious soldiery. Under these accumulated evils, the inhabitants petitioned the Legislature for redress ; but as their petition, which was presented early in December, was not iacted upon in a proper time, they presented anoth-
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er petition to the Congress of the United States, not only setting forth their present difficulties and soliciting redress, but also requesting that a com petent tribunal might be appointed in conformity to the ninth article of the confederation of the States, by which the private right of property in the soil might be determined. On the report of & committee to whom this petition was referred, Congress, on the 23d. of January 1784, Resolved, that such tribunal be constituted, and that Con- gress or a Committee of the States would hear the parties on the fourth Monday of June then next. It happened that on that day neither Congress nor the Committee of the States were sitting, and the controversy came to no determination.
The winter of this year was severely cold, and a body of ice was formed upon the Susquehanna of an uncommon thickness. Immense masses of snow lay in the forests which fed the tributary streams, and the Spring of 1784 opened with a general and sudden thaw. On the 13th. and 14th. of March, there fell immense quantities of rain. The follow- ing day the ice in the river began to break up, and the stream rose with great rapidity. The ice first gave way at the different rapids, and floated down in great masses which lodged against the frozen surface of the more gentle parts of the river where it continued firm. In this manner several large dams were formed which caused such an accumu- lation of the water, that the river overflowed all its banks, and one general inundation overspread the "extensive plains of Wyoming. The inhabitants
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, took refuge on the hills and surrounding heights, and saw their property exposed to the fury of the waters. At length the upper dam gave way, and huge masses of ice were scattered in every direc- tion. · The deluge bore. down upon the dams be- low which successively yielded to the insupportable burden, and the whole. went off with a noise like the thunder of contending storms. + Houses, barns, fences, stacks of hay and grain, cattle, flocks of · sheep, and droves of swine, were swept off in the general destruction and seen no more. The plain on which the village of Wilkesbarre is built, was covered with heaps of ice which continued a great portion of the following summer.
The ice freshet, as this deluge was called, crea- ted so great a scarcity of provisions, that the pros- pect of approaching want, produced the most gloomy apprehensions among the inhabitants ; and the soldiers, in order to provide sufficient stores for themselves, became more. ungovernable than be- . fore in their acts of indiscriminate. plunder upon such property as the 'more merciful elements had neglected to destroy. These accumulated evils excited much sympathy in the inhabitants . of Pennsylvania and the surrounding colonies in be- .half of the sufferers, and Mr. Dickinson,. Presi- « dent of the Supreme Executive Council, who ap- · pears to have largely participated in feelings so hon- . ourable to his station, sent, , on the 31st of March, the following message to the General Assembly: "GENTLEMEN -- The late inundation having re- duced many of the inhabitants. of Wyoming to
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great distress, we should be glad if your honoura- ble house would make some immediate provision for their relief."
The General Assembly, however, governed as it then was by the influence of the landholders, did not appear to be influenced by the motives which actuated the Council, and no effectual measures were taken for the relief of the inhabitants. The soldiers continued their acts of violence and plun- der under the sanction of the principal magistrate, . Justice Patterson, who fearing that his conduct might produce an enquiry on the part of the Coun- cil, thought proper to provide against that event, and accordingly in a letter to the Council of the 29th of April, he expresses himself as follows :-- " I therefore humbly hope that if any dangerous or seditious commotion should arise in this country, -so remote from the seat of government, that it may not be construed into a want of zeal or love for the Commonwealth, if we should, through dire neces- sity, be obliged to do some things not strictly con- sonant with the letter of the law .. "
The inhabitants finding at length that the bur- den of their calamities was too great to be borne, began to resist the illegal proceedings of their new masters, and refused to comply with the decisions. of the mock tribunals which had been established. Their resistance enraged the magistrates, and on the 12th of May the soldiers of the garrison were sent to disarm them, and under this pretence one hundred and fifty families were turned out of their dwellings, many of which were burnt, and all ages
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and sexes reduced to the same destitute condition. After being plundered of their little remaining property, they were driven from the valley and compelled to proceed on foot through the wilder- ness by way of the Lackawaxen to the Delaware, a distance of about eighty miles. During this jour- ney the unhappy fugitives suffered all the miseries which human nature, appears to be capable of endu- ring. Old men, whose children were slain in bat- tle, widows with their infant. children, and child- ren without parents to protect them, were here companions in exile and sorrow, and wandering in a wilderness. where famine and ravenous beasts continued daily to lessen. the number of the suffer- ers. One shocking instance of suffering is related by a survivor of this scene of death ; it is the case of a mother whose infant having died, roasted it by piecemeal for the daily subsistence of her remain- ing children !
Acts of violence, productive of so much misery, caused murmurs to arise, which could not.be.dis- regarded by the government of Pennsylvania, and the General Assembly appointed Jonas Hartzel, Robert Brown, and Jacob. Stroud, Commissioners, with directions to repair to. Wyoming and examine concerning the state of the settlement, and to en- quire relative to the conduct of the Pennsylvania officers. These Commissioners were accompani- ed by the Sheriff of Northumberland county, .. and on their arrival, having ascertained the abuses which had been committed, they made such repre- sentations to government concerning them, that
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on the 13th. of June the Troops were discharged, a small number only being retained to garrison Fort Dickinson. The inhabitants were according- ly invited to return to their dwellings by public proclamation, and were promised protection on yielding obedience to the laws. Many of the Troops which had been discharged, were employed by some of the Pennsylvania land claimants to con- tinue at Wyoming, and they formed a band of free: booters, who continued about the settlements for a time, and after the return of the Sheriff and Com- missioners, took possession of some vacant houses in Kingston, where they subsisted by plundering the surrounding country. These men afterwards joined Patterson and his small garrison in Fort Dickinson, where they produced such a reinforce- ment, and a force of such a description, as induced the inhabitants to garrison themselves at Forty-fort.
On the 20th of July a party of the inhabitants proceeded from this post to the flats about five miles below, in order to ascertain the situation of their grain fields, and having passed some distance from the fort, were fired upon by a party consist- ing of thirty of Patterson's men, commanded by Wm. Brink, when Chester Pierce and Elisha Gar- ret, two distinguished young men, were killed, and the remainder effected their retreat to the fort.
The loss of Pierce and Garret was deeply lamen- ted, and the inhabitants resolved to avenge their murders. Accordingly three days afterwards the garrison of forty fort marched to Wilkesbarre, near the dawn of the day, with an intention of surpri-
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zing Patterson and his party, and if possible, to make them prisoners ; but the former having re- ceived an intimation of their design, retired with his associates into the Fort, and there prepared to defend themselves. The inhabitants surrounded the Fort, but not being in a situation to commence a siege, they secured some of their own property which Patterson had neglected to secure, and leav- ing a party to guard the fort, proceeded to Milt Creek, and took possession of the mill at that place, the only one in the settlement, and which had been for some time occupied exclusively by Patterson and his party. Here they remained until they had ground a sufficient quantity of grain for their im- mediate wants, when they again returned to their position at forty fort.
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CHAPTER IV.
Fort Dickinson at Wyoming besieged by the Con- necticut settlers-Pennsylvania troops sent to Wyoming under Colonel Armstrong-Affair at Locust Hill-Armstrong arrives at Wyoming- He treacherously makes prisoners of the Connec- ticut settlers-Prisoners escape from Easton and Sunbury-Attack upon the Pennsylvania troops -- The Commissioners, Reed and Henderson, kill- ed-Re-enforcements of Pennsylvania troops sent to Wyoming-Letter of President Dickin- son-Proceedings of the Council of Censors- Memorial to the Legislature of Connecticut-Me- morial to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania -Luzerne county erected-Confirming Law passed-Commissioners sent to Wyoming-Col- onel Pickering taken prisoner-Skirmish at Meshoppen-Confirming law repealed-Compen- sation Law passed-Settlement of the controver- sy-Intrusion Law passed-Bradford and Sus- quehanna counties erected.
The acts of violence, which had been committed by Patterson and his associates at Wyoming, exci- ted in the bosoms of the inhabitants the most de- termined spirit of vengeance ; and having collected their forces from the surrounding country, they laid siege to Fort Dickinson, in which these cruel marauders, to the number of sixty-five, attempted
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to defend themselves. The Fort at this time mounted four pieces of cannon, but for them they had no ammunition. They had, however, one" hundred and thirty muskets, and one large box of cartridges. With these they prepared to repel any attack which should be made previous to the arri- val of re enforcements, to procure which, they had dispatched a messenger to Philadelphia, on receiv- ing the first intimation of the contemplated attack.
On the 23d. of July the inhabitants surrounded the Fort, and having continued closely to invest it for three days, resolved to attempt carrying the works by storm, when the following summons was sent to the garrison :--
" Wyoming, July 27, 1784.
"' GENTLEMEN-In the name and behalf of the" "+ inhabitants of this place, who held their lands "under the Connecticut claim, and were lately, " without law, or even the color of law, driven " from their possessions in a hostile and unconsti- "tutional manner, we, in the name of these in- " jured and incensed inhabitants, demand an imme- " diate surrender of your garrison into our hands ; " together with our possessions and property, " which if complied with, you shall be treated with " humanity and commiseration, otherwise the con- " sequences will prove fatal and bloody to every " person found in the garrison.
" We give you two hours for a decisive answer, 6" and will receive the same at Mr. Bailey's.
(Signed) " JOHN FRANKLIN,
" In behalf of the injured."
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After this message had been sent to the garri- son, information was received that troops and magistrates were on their way from Northumber- land, to preserve order and to do justice to all par- ties. The inhabitants immediately raised the siege on receiving this news, and returned to Forty fort, where it was resolved to await the arrival of the magistrates. The messengers which had been sent from Fort Dickinson, communicated to the Council of Pennsylvania the situation of affairs at Wyoming, and on the 29th. of July the Council 4% Resolved, that the lieutenant of the county of Northampton be directed immediately to draw forth a detachment of three hundred infantry and twelve or fifteen light dragoons, properly officered and equipped, from the militia of said county ;" and also, that the Sheriff of the county of Northumber- land should raise the posse of that county, and that the lieutenant of the county should aid the Sheriff by such portion of the militia as might be necessary to furnish a proper force for the reduc- tion of Wyoming. On the same day the Council appointed the honourable John Boyd and Lieut. Colonel John Armstrong, Commissioners, "For carrying into execution such measures as shall be, judged necessary and expedient for the support of the civil authority, by establishing peace and good order in the county of Northumberland." The territory of Northumberland county then included the Valley of Wyoming, and the Sheriff and mili- tia from that county, as well as those from the county of Northampton, were to act under the di-
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rection of these commissioners, who were directed to repair immediately to Wyoming and take the command. John Vancampen, Esquire, was ap- pointed to furnish supplies for the troops, and an order for one hundred pounds was drawn in his fa- vor.
The Council, on receiving information of the af- fair of the 20th. July, had appointed Thomas Hewet, David Mead and Robert Martin, Commissioners, to repair to Wyoming and restore peace to the set- tlement by disarming both the contending parties ; and the approach of these commissioners had pre- vented the attack upon Fort Dickinson. They arrived on the 29th. and on the 30th. July a confer- ence was held between the belligerent parties, a- greeably to the wish of the commissioners, with a view of effecting some accommodation of their contentions. These conferences not having pro- duced the desired effect, the commissioners on the 5th. of August addressed a letter to each of the parties, requiring, under the authority of the State, that they should deliver to the Sheriff, who had ac- companied them from Sunbury, all their fire arms and a number of men as hostages for the preserva- tion of the peace. To these letters no attention was paid by either of the parties, for information had previously been received of the approach of the troops under Armstrong and Boyd, and measures had been taken by one party to annoy, and by the other, to accelerate their movements.
1
On the 1st. of August Colonel Armstrong and Colonel Boyd arrived at Easton, where a portion
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of their troops had assembled, and where they were to receive supplies. On the 3d. they pro- ceeded to "Larner's," a public Inn near the Po- kono mountain, at a place which commanded the entrance into the swamp through which the road to Wyoming passed, and which had been designa- ted as the place of general rendezvous for all the troops composing the expedition. In order to se- cure possession of the road which led to Wyoming, and to prevent any surprize of his troops on their march, Armstrong had thought it necessary to oc- cupy an eminence called Locust Hill, and a num- ber of men having volunteered for this service, Co- lonel James Moore was appointed to command the party, who proceeded immediately to that position and took possession of a small log house erected there.
, The inhabitants of Wyoming having received no- tice that troops were organizing beyond the Poko- no mountain to attack them, and that a. party had already taken possession of Locust Hill, a compa- Ry of volunteers was immediately formed, to at- tack them, under the command of Capt. John Swift. They commenced their march, and on the morning of the 2d. of August, havingadvanced near the house under cover of the woods, opened their fire upon it ; and a shot passing in at a window, killed Jacob Everet, and wounded two others, when the besieging party withdrew, and again returned to Wyoming. Armstrong in his letter to the Council, gives the following account of the affair; " Colonel Moore, aggreeably to a plot which we
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had concerted in Philadelphia, had collected about, twenty volunteers with whom he had taken posses- sion of a little height about mid-way in the swamp merely to command the avenue by which we pro- posed to march. The Colonel had lain there some days, believing himself to be perfectly secure, as they were still in Northampton county, when without any provocation on his part, or previous notice on theirs, he was fired upon by the insur- gents, drawn into a little hut and there obliged te suffer a two hours attack of great violence, in which three of his men were wounded and one killed. The assailants then withdrew into the swamp and the Colonel retired hither. This little rencontre- would have been much more equal had not the Colonel himself been sick of a fever, and his party so much dispersed."
Armstrong continued at Larner's until the 14th: of August, although the 7th. had been appointed for their march, but the delay, and difficulty of collec- ting and providing for the militia who were to ac- ·company him, continually retarded his movements. At length, having called only a small force, he pro- ceeded to Wyoming where he found the magis- trates, Hewit, Meade and Martin, together with some troops who had arrived from Northumber- land. These re-enforcements, together with those previously stationed there, constituted a force of about four hundred men, the command of which devolved upon Armstrong,* who having received
* The same John Armstrong who has since been Secretary at War and Minister to France.
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information that the inhabitants were in garrison at Forty Fort, conceived the design of ensnaring them into his power, rather than to attempt redu- cing them by force. " Accordingly a message was sent to them with assurance that both parties would be required to lay down their arms, and that peace and tranquility should be again restored. This was accompanied with a copy of a manifesto which he had caused to be published immediately after his arrival, declaring that he came for the purpose of executing the laws, establishing order, and "protecting the more peaceable inhabitants." Many of the inhabitants suspected treachery, and for a time refused to disarm themselves; but the pos- itive assurances of Armstrong, who was Secretary to the Council, and whose public character seemed to repel suspicion, at length prevailed. They re- paired to Fort Dickinson to present claims for the property which had been unlawfully taken from them, and were immediately seized by the troops under the command of Armstrong, and closely con- fined in the Block house during two days, after which they were bound together in pairs and sent to prison at Easton. Forty-two others who had previously put themselves into Armstrong's power under the same assurances, were.also bound with ropes, and afterwards sent under a strong guard to the prison at Sunbury, where they arrived on the 24th. of August, and the next morning ten of them made their escape. A sergeant's guard was imme- diately mounted at the prison to secure the remain- der who were thrown together into a dirty apart.
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ment, and treated with great rigour. . Those who were sent to Easton were confined in one large apartment in the Jail at that place, until the 17th. of September. On that day the assistant keeper of the prison came to the apartment as usual to furnish supplies, when one of the prisoners, of the name of Inman, seized him by the neck, and forcing the keys from his hands, knocked him down with them, by which blow the man fainted, and all the prison- ers made their escape. After the prisoners had been sent to Easton and Sunbury, most of the troops remaining at Wyoming were discharged ; the remainder formed a garrison in Fort Dickinson, while Armstrong, Patterson, and their associates, proceeded to gather the harvest which had been planted by the inhabitants.
Many of those who resided in the remote parts of the settlement, and who had not put themselves in the power of Armstrong, assembled at Bowman's creek, where their numbers were considerably aug- mented by the return of some of the prisoners, and by some.re-enforcements from Vermont ; and hav- ing been informed that Armstrong's forces at Wilkesbarre were much reduced by the discharge of a portion of the troops, took possession of Forty Fort, and prepared themselves to protect the re- mainder of the harvest. About the 20th. of Sep- tember as a party of Armstrong's men were at- tempting to gather a part of the harvest, they were attacked by a number of the inhabitants from For- ty-Fort who compelled them to abandon their plun- der-and seek refuge in Fort Dickinson. Immedi-
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