[16] The reference is to Abercrombie’s defeat and retreat from Fort
Ticonderoga in July, 1758.—ED.
[17] The Indian trail followed by Post, passed up the West Branch of the
Susquehanna, through a region which had earlier been thickly sprinkled
with Indian towns. The Moravian missionaries had been here as early as
1742, and had been hospitably received by Madame Montour, whose town
was at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek, opposite the present village of
Montoursville. This was probably Post’s “Wekeponall,” as the path to
Wyoming led northeast from this place. Queenashawakee (Quenslehague)
Creek is in Lycoming County, with the town of Linden at its mouth.—ED.
[18] Little hoops on which the _Indians_ stretch and dress the raw
scalps.—[C. T.?]
[19] Big Island is at the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek, in Clinton County.
From that point the trail led up the creek to a point above Milesburg,
Center County, then turned almost due west across Center and Clearfield
counties to Clearfield (Shinglimuhee). This was the “Chinklacamoos path,”
north of the Kittanning trail followed by Weiser in 1748. The word
“Chinklacamoos” is said to signify “it almost joins,” in allusion to a
horseshoe bend at this place. See Meginness, _Otzinachson: A History of
the West Branch Valley_ (rev. ed., Williamsport, Pa., 1889), p. 272.—ED.
[20] An _Indian_ Chief, that travelled with him.—[C. T.?]
[21] The money of _Pennsylvania_, being paper, is chiefly carried in
pocket books.—[C. T.?]
[22] From Chinklacamoos the Indian trail crossed Clearfield, Jefferson,
and Clarion counties, over Little Toby’s Creek (Tobeco), the Clarion
River (big river Tobeco), and east Sandy Creek (Weshawaucks). That
no Indians were met through all this region is proof of its deserted
condition, its former frequenters having withdrawn to the French sphere
of influence.—ED.
[23] The officer commanding Venango at this time was Jean Baptiste
Boucher Sieur de Niverville, a noted border ranger and Indian raider.
Born in Montreal in 1716, he early acquired an ascendency over the
Abenaki Indians, which was utilized in leading their parties against the
English settlements of New England. In King George’s War, bands under his
command ravaged New Hampshire and Vermont, and penetrated as far as Fort
Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills (1748). During the French and Indian
War, he was similarly employed, and after Braddock’s defeat, conducted a
winter campaign of thirty-three days, in the direction of Fort Cumberland
on the Potomac, bringing off numerous English captives. At Lake George in
1757, he led the Abenaki auxiliaries, and was present at the massacre of
Fort William Henry. The last that is known of his military exploits is
during the siege of Quebec, when he defended dangerous outposts with the
aid of savage allies.—ED.
[24] According to the rules of Indian politeness, you must never go into
a town without sending a previous message to denote your arrival, or,
standing at a distance from the town, and hallooing till some come out,
to conduct you in. Otherwise you are thought as _rude as white men_.—[C.
T.?]
[25] When the people of a town, or of a nation, are addressed, the
_Indians_ always use the singular number.—[C. T.?]
[26] _i. e._ To confer in a friendly manner.—[C. T.?]
[27] _i. e._ Call to mind our ancient friendly intercourse.—[C. T.?]
[28] Every _Indian_ town has a large cabbin for the entertainment of
strangers by the public hospitality.—[C. T.?]
[29] That is, the _Quakers_, for whom the _Indians_ have a particular
regard.—[C. T.?]
[30] Delaware George was an important chief of that tribe, who had been
a disciple of Post’s in his Pennsylvania mission. He maintained friendly
relations with the English until after the defeat of Braddock. Although
closely associated with King Beaver and Shingas, he seems to have leaned
more than they to the English interest.—ED.
[31] That is, we look on your coming as a matter of importance, it
engages our attention.—[C. T.?]
[32] At the Easton treaty in the autumn of 1757, Teedyuscung had
promised to “halloo” to all the far Indian tribes, and bring them to an
understanding with the English. In January, 1758, he reported to the
governor that “all the Indian Nations from the Sun Rise to these beyond
the Lakes, as far as the Sun setts, have heard what has passed between
you and me, and are pleased with it,” and urged him to continue the work
of peace. Teedyuscung was evidently enlarging upon his own importance,
and to this end giving unwarrantable information.—ED.
[33] These belts and strings are made of shell-beads, called _wampum_.
The _wampum_ serves, among the _Indians_, as money; of it they also make
their necklaces, bracelets, and other ornaments. Belts and strings of
it are used in all public negotiations; to each belt or string there is
connected a message, speech, or part of a speech, to be delivered with a
belt by the messenger, or speaker. These belts also serve for records,
being worked with figures, composed of beads of different colours, to
assist the memory.—[C. T.?]
[34] The peace made with _Teedyuscung_, was for the _Delawares_, &c. on
_Susquahanna_ only, and did not include the _Indians_ on the _Ohio_; they
having no deputies at the treaty. But he had promised to _halloo_ to
them, that is, send messengers to them, and endeavour to draw them into
the peace, which he accordingly did.—[C. T.?]
[35] A fire, in public affairs, signifies, among the _Indians_ a
council.—[C. T.?]
[36] _i. e._ This Englishman.—[C. T.?]
[37] By father, they express the _French_.—[C. T.?]
[38] By I, he here means, I, the Six Nations, of which the _Onondagoes_
are one of the greatest. This was, therefore, a claim of the _Ohio_
lands, as belonging to the Six Nations, exclusive of the _Delawares_,
whom they formerly called women.—[C. T.?]
[39] The _Indians_ smoke in their councils.—[C. T.?]
[40] That is, the sentiments you express, are offensive to the
company.—[C. T.?]
[41] That is, he had changed his offensive sentiments.—[C. T.?]
[42] That is, that they would act vigorously.—[C. T.?]
[43] The _French_, at the fort.—[C. T.?]
[44] The Six Nations.—[C. T.?]
[45] Kuckquetackton (Koquethagechton) was the Indian name of the famous
Delaware chief Captain White Eyes. About 1776, he succeeded Netawatwes,
of whom he had been chief counsellor, as head of the nation Heckewelder
first met him at this same town, where Post encountered him in 1772, and
says that he strove to keep the neutrality during both Lord Dunmore’s War
and the Revolution. Finding that impossible, he joined the American cause
(1778), and brought an Indian contingent to the aid of General McIntosh
at Fort Laurens; dying, however, before the attack was made on the
Sandusky towns. He was always a firm friend of the Moravians, and though
of small stature was one of the best and bravest of Delaware chiefs.
There were two chiefs known by the name of Killbuck, the younger of
whom was the more famous. His Indian name was Gelelemend, and he was a
grandson of the great chief Netawatwes. Born near Lehigh Water Gap in the
decade 1730-40, he removed to the Allegheny with the Delawares, and later
to the Muskingum, where was a village called Killbuck’s Town. Like White
Eyes, he was a firm friend of peace and of the whites, and his life was
imperilled because of this advocacy. He joined the Moravians, and was
baptized as William Henry, about 1788. Later he removed to Pittsburg to
secure protection from his enemies, but died at Goshen in 1811. A lineal
descendant of Killbuck is at present a Moravian missionary in Alaska.—ED.
[46] That is, go on steadily with this good work of establishing a
peace.—[C. T.?]
[47] Meaning the _Cherokees_.—[C. T.?]
[48] Some of the first _English_ speech, that the _Indians_ learn from
the traders, is swearing.—[C. T.?]
[49] Heckewelder testifies that Shingas, though a dreaded foe in battle,
was never known to treat prisoners cruelly. See his _Indian Nations_,
Historical Society of Pennsylvania _Memoirs_ (Philadelphia, 1876), xii,
pp. 269, 270.—ED.
[50] The Indians, having plenty of land, are no niggards of it. They
sometimes give large tracts to their friends freely; and when they sell
it, they make most generous bargains. But some _fraudulent purchases_,
in which they were grossly imposed on, and some _violent intrusions_,
imprudently and wickedly made without purchase, have rendered them
jealous that we intend finally to take all from them by force. We should
endeavour to recover our credit with them by fair purchases and honest
payments; and then there is no doubt but they will readily sell us, at
reasonable rates, as much, from time to time, as we can possibly have
occasion for.—[C. T.?]
[51] The agreement made with _Teedyuscung_, that he should enjoy the
_Wioming_ lands, and have houses built there for him and his people.—[C.
T.?]
[52] The army under _General Forbes_.—[C. T.?]
[53] The _Indian_ traders used to buy the transported _Irish_, and other
convicts, as servants, to be employed in carrying up the goods among
the _Indians_. The ill behaviour of these people has always hurt the
character of the _English_ among the _Indians_.—[C. T.?]
[54] No spy among his enemies.—[C. T.?]
[55] That is, since we had a friendly intercourse with each other. The
frequent repetition of the word, _Brethren_, is the effect of their rules
of politeness, which enjoin, in all conversations, a constant remembrance
of the relation subsisting between the parties, especially where that
relation implies any affection, or respect. It is like the perpetual
repetitions among us, of _Sir_, or, _Madam_, or, _Your Lordship_. In the
same manner the _Indians_ at every sentence repeat, _My Father_, _My
Uncle_, _My Cousin_, _My Brother_, _My Friend_, &c.—[C. T.?]
[56] In this speech the _Indians_ carefully guard the honour of their
nation, by frequently intimating, that the peace is _sought by the
English: you have talked of peace: you are sorry for the war: you have
digged up the peace, that was buried_, &c. Then they declare their
readiness to grant peace, if the English agree to its being general for
all the colonies. The _Indian_ word, that is translated, be strong, so
often repeated, is an expression they use to spirit up persons, who have
undertaken some difficult task, as to lift, or move, a great weight, or
execute a difficult enterprise; nearly equivalent to our word, _courage!
courage!_—[C. T.?]
[57] The three tribes of the Delaware nation—the Unamis, Unalachtgo, and
Minsi—were designated by the totems turtle, turkey, and wolf. The chief
of the first of these was the head chief of the nation, being chosen and
installed with great ceremony and rejoicing. See Heckewelder, _Indian
Nations_, pp. 51, 53.—ED.
[58] Meaning General Forbes’s army.—[C. T.?]
[59] _i. e._ Just ready to enter our country.—[C. T.?]
[60] Two of the prisoners mention their pleasure at seeing Post, and
the fact that the Indians forbade them to communicate with him. See
“Narrative of Marie le Roy and Barbara Leininger,” _Pennsylvania
Archives_, 2nd series (Harrisburg, 1878), vii, pp. 401-412.—ED.
[61] He was sent to collect the _Indians_ together, to attack General
Forbes’s army, once more, on their march.—[C. T.?]
[62] The creek, here called “Antigoc” was probably Venango or the French
Creek, which the Delawares designated as Attigé.—ED.
[63] The Indian name of this town, in Jefferson County, on the Mahoning
Creek, is usually given as Punxatawny.—ED.
[64] Probably this was the town called “Calamaweshink” or “Chinklemoose,”
Clearfield.—ED.
[65] The proprietors of Pennsylvania chose William Denny
lieutenant-governor (1756), because they wished a “military man with a
ready pen.” He had been captain in the British army, and his experience
in Pennsylvania gave opportunity for military talents. But bound by
instructions from his principals, and hampered by the hostility of the
provincial assembly, he made no headway in his government. Accused of
accepting bribes to betray the proprietors’ interests, he was removed in
October, 1759. Returning to England, he was given a high position in the
army, and died about 1766.—ED.
[66] Captain Bull and Lieutenant Hays were militia officers, the latter
of Northampton County, where was an Irish settlement between Bethlehem
and Fort Allen, known as “Hays’s.” Captain John Bull commanded at Fort
Allen in the summer of 1758. They both volunteered to undertake this
hazardous mission of a visit to the Ohio Indians. For the instructions
given them, see _Pennsylvania Archives_, iii, p. 556.—ED.
[67] Thomas Hickman was an Indian who had taken an English name, and was
much employed by the province of Pennsylvania as an interpreter. A brutal
white man murdered Hickman in the Tuscarora Valley in 1761.
Totiniontenna was a Cayuga chieftain who with Shickalamy was deputed by
the Six Nations to undertake this embassy to the Ohio Indians.
The chief here called Shickalamy was the youngest son, of the famous
Oneida of that name, who dwelt so long at the forks of the Susquehanna,
and was friendly to the whites, especially the Moravians. The elder chief
died in 1749, his most famous son being Logan.
Isaac Still was a Moravian Christian Indian, frequently employed as a
messenger and interpreter.—ED.
[68] Shamokin was an Indian town at the forks of the Susquehanna, the
abode of Shickalamy, “vice-king” of the Indians of that region. It was
first visited by the whites in 1728. Weiser built a house at this village
by request of the chief, in 1744. Frequent visits of the Moravians led to
the establishment here of a blacksmith’s shop, and a quasi-mission. Fort
Augusta was built there in 1756; but on the proclamation of war against
the Delawares in the same year, the Indians abandoned the place and
destroyed the settlement.—ED.
[69] The general here referred to was John Forbes, a Scotchman who in
1757 was appointed brigadier-general for the war in America. His first
service was at Louisburg. In 1758, he was appointed to organize the
expedition against Fort Duquesne. After the French, on the approach of
Forbes’s army, had abandoned that stronghold, the general, suffering from
a serious disease, was carried by slow stages to Philadelphia, where he
died in March, 1760. He was a man of iron purpose, and great strength of
character, being popular alike with his soldiers and Indian allies.—ED.
[70] A string of _wampum_ beads. Nothing of importance is said, or
proposed without _wampum_.—[C. T.?]
[71] The _Indians_, having learned drunkenness of the white people,
do not reckon it among the vices. They all, without exception, and
without shame, practice it when they can get strong liquor. It does not,
among them, hurt the character of the greatest warrior, the greatest
counsellor, or the modestest matron. It is not so much an _offence_, as
an _excuse_ for other offences; the injuries they do each other in their
drink being charged, not upon the man, but upon the rum.—[C. T.?]
[72] The Ohio.—[C. T.?]
[73] An Indian trader, John Harris, built a log house on the Susquehanna
in 1705, and later established an inn and a ferry at the spot called
Harris’s Ferry, which was maintained for three-quarters of a century. His
son laid out the present town of Harrisburg.—ED.
[74] They were afraid of going where our people were all in arms, lest
some of the indiscreet soldiers might kill them.—[C. T.?]
[75] Carlisle, the seat of Cumberland County (erected in 1750), was
originally settled by Scotch-Irish immigrants, who in the decade between
1720 and 1730 formed the “back settlements” of Pennsylvania. The Indian
title was extinguished by a treaty in 1736; but when Fort Lowther was
built at this site in 1753, there were but five houses in the place.
Later it became the eastern terminus of the Pennsylvania highroad, and
the centre of an extensive overland trade.—ED.
[76] The town of Shippensburg was one of the oldest west of the
Susquehanna, having been laid out in 1749, by Edward Shippen—later
chief-justice of Pennsylvania—on land of which he was proprietor. It
was the site of two frontier forts—Franklin, built before Braddock’s
defeat; and Morris, erected after that disaster. Shippensburg became an
important station on the Pennsylvania state road; and until the opening
of the nineteenth century was the end of the stage-route from Lancaster
westward.—ED.
[77] Chambers’s Fort was a private stockade erected (1756) on the
Conococheague Creek, by a Scotch-Irishman, Benjamin Chambers, who for
some time had had a mill and settlement here. The fort was a large stone
building, protected by cannon, and considered one of the strongest
defenses in that region. The government attempted to take possession of
the guns in 1757, lest they should be captured and turned against the
other forts; but the Scotch-Irish settlers stoutly resisted this attempt,
and it was abandoned. The present city of Chambersburg occupies the
site.—ED.
[78] This should not be confused with the more famous Fort Loudoun,
built the same year (1756) in Tennessee as a check upon the Cherokees.
The Pennsylvania fort was on the road between Shippensburg and Fort
Lyttleton, about a mile east of the present village of Loudon, Franklin
County, being erected by Armstrong after Braddock’s defeat. This was
the scene of the plundering of the Indian goods, dispatched to the Ohio
(1765) for Croghan’s use on his journey to the Illinois.
The Cherokees were employed by the English as auxiliaries in this
campaign. Their presence had caused much concern among the Northern
Indians, and Post had been sent to Wyoming the previous spring, with
reassuring messages on this account.
Bill Sock was a Conestoga Indian, employed as a messenger to the Six
Nations. He was massacred in the Paxton affair (1763). See Heckeweldert
_Narrative_, p. 79.—ED.
[79] A calumet pipe; the signal of peace.—[C. T.?]
[80] Fort Lyttleton was another of the chain of frontier posts built
in 1756 for the protection of the frontiers. It was located at the
place called by the Indian traders “Sugar Cabins,” near the present
McConnellsburg, Fulton County. A garrison was maintained at this point
until after Pontiac’s War, when it gradually fell into ruins, some relics
of its occupation being still found in the locality.—ED.
[81] Ray’s town, so named from its first settler (1751), was the
chief rendezvous for Forbes’s army in this campaign, where he had the
stronghold of Fort Bedford built, and whence he made his final advance
against Fort Duquesne. From 1760-63, the fort at this place was commanded
by Captain Lewis Ourry of the Royal Americans; and its apparent strength
saved it from attack by the Indians of the conspiracy. Bouquet made it
the rendezvous in his advance in 1764. Throughout the Indian wars, Fort
Bedford was the most important station between Carlisle and Fort Pitt.
The town of Bedford was incorporated in 1766.—ED.
[82] Post’s testimony as to the condition of the new road cut for the
army west from Fort Bedford is interesting. For an account of the
controversy over the building of this road, see Hulbert, _Old Glade Road_
(Cleveland, 1903), pp. 65-161.
Stony Creek flows northward through the valley between the Allegheny and
Laurel Hill ranges of mountains.—ED.
[83] The creek called “Rekempalin,” apparently was Pickings Run in
Somerset County—not a large creek, but all streams were swollen by
unusual rains.
Loyal Hanna was an old Indian town situated on the trail passing west to
Shannopin’s Town at the Forks of the Ohio. Upon the advance of Forbes’s
army (1758), this was made the last station on the road to Fort Duquesne,
and a fort was built called Ligonier. Before the erection of this fort
the station was known simply as the “Camp on Loyal Hanna.”—ED.
[84] Captain John Haslett was an officer of the Pennsylvania provincial
troops, of which there was in Forbes’s army, a contingent of two thousand
and seven hundred. Probably this was the same officer who commanded
Delaware troops in the Revolution, and after conspicuous bravery at Long
Island was killed in the battle of Princeton.—ED.
[85] The camping-place for this night, at the advanced breast-work, is
identified as on the Nine Mile Run, in Unity Township, Westmoreland
County, being still locally known as “Breast-work Hill.”—ED.
[86] Lieutenant William Hays, who was later killed on his return from
escorting Post, belonged to the Royal Americans, having been commissioned
December 11, 1756.—ED.
[87] The Ohio, as it is called by the Sennecas. Alleghenny is the name of
the same river in the Delaware language. Both words signify the fine, or
fair river.—[C. T.?]
[88] The Indian town which Post calls Keckkeknepolin was usually known as
Blackleg’s Town, being situated at the mouth of Loyalhanna Creek, where
it flows into the Kiskiminitas.—ED.
[89] Heckewelder says that the word “Kiskiminitas” means “make daylight,”
and was due to the impatient exclamation of some eager warrior encamped
on the spot. The town here mentioned was in Armstrong County, on a
creek of the same name, about seven miles from where it flows into the
Allegheny River.—ED.
[90] When he parted from Captain Haslett, Post left the regular
westward Indian trail to the Forks of the Ohio. In order to avoid
Fort Duquesne, and to reach the Indian towns beyond the Allegheny, he
followed a northward branch of the same that led down the Loyalhanna and
Kiskiminitas creeks. The Indian town at the mouth of Kiskiminitas Creek
had always been insignificant, lying between Kittanning on the north, and
Shannopin’s Town on the south.—ED.
[91] Connequenessing Creek, whose name, according to Heckewelder,
signifies “a long straight course.”—ED.
[92] Persons appointed by law to manage the _Indian_ trade, for the
public; the private trade, on account of its abuses, being abolished.—[C.
T.?]
[93] Where they boil into sugar the juice of a tree that grows in those
rich lands.—[C. T.?]
[94] Irvine says (_Pennsylvania Archives_, xi, p. 518) that the Indians
termed all the land along Beaver and Mahoning creeks for twenty-five
miles, Kuskuskies. Old Kuskusking was located between the mouths of
Neshanock and Mahoning creeks on the Shenango, about where the town of
New Castle, Lawrence County, now stands.—ED.
[95] Kekeuscung’s name signified “the healer.” He was accounted a great
warrior, and often joined the Six Nations against the Cherokees. The
traditional hostility between the latter Indians and those around the
Allegheny rendered difficult the attempt to conciliate the Delawares
while the Cherokees were in the English army.
The attack here mentioned on the English camp at Loyalhanna, was repulsed
by Colonel Mercer and the Virginian troops. On their return they fired by
mistake upon their own re-enforcements, and nearly killed their leader,
Washington.—ED.
[96] An _Indian_ with an _English_ name. An _Indian_ sometimes changes
his name with an _Englishman_ he respects; it is a seal of friendship,
and creates a kind of relation between them.—[C. T.?]
[97] When a prisoner is brought to an _Indian_ town, he runs a kind of
gauntlet thro’ the mob; and every one, even the children, endeavour to
have a stroke at him; but as soon as he can get into any of their huts,
he is under protection, and refreshments are administered to him.—[C. T.?]
[98] _i. e._ He has listened to the _English_ messengers.—[C. T.?]
[99] Kicking the string about, and throwing it with a stick, not
touching it with their hands, were marks of dislike of the message, that
accompanied it.—[C. T.?]
[100] The _Quakers_ of _Philadelphia_, who first set on foot these
negociations of peace; and for whom the _Indians_ have always had a great
regard.—[C. T.?]
_Comment by Ed._ See on this subject _Pennsylvania Archives_, iii, p. 581.
[101] “Sastaghretsy, Anigh Kalicken, Atowateany, Towigh, Towighroano,
Geghdageghroano, Oyaghtanont, Sisaghroano, Stiaggeghroano,
Jenontadynago.”—[C. T.?]