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[Illustration: JUNCTION OF FRANKSTOWN AND LUCKAHOE BRANCHES OF THE
JUNIATA BELOW ALEXANDRIA.]
HISTORY OF THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY:
Embracing an Account of the Early Pioneers,
and the Trials and Privations Incident to the
Settlement of the Valley,
Predatory Incursions, Massacres, and Abductions by the
Indians During the French and Indian Wars, and the War
of the Revolution, &c.
by
U. J. JONES.
Philadelphia:
Published by Henry B. Ashmead,
George St., Above Eleventh.
1856.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1856, by
U. J. JONES, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of
the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Stereotyped by L. Johnson and Co.
Philadelphia.
Dedication.
TO MAJOR B. F. BELL,
BELL'S MILLS, BLAIR COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
DEAR SIR:--I hope your well-known modesty will not be shocked when your
eyes encounter this notice. In dedicating to you the fruits of my first
historical labors in the field of literature, allow me to say that I am
governed by reasons that will justify me. In the first place, I may
cite your well-known and often-expressed veneration and esteem for the
memory of the brave old Pioneers of our Valley, their heroic deeds, and
their indomitable energy and perseverance, under the most discouraging
circumstances, in turning the unbroken wilderness into "a land flowing
with milk and honey." Secondly, you are the son of one of those
self-same old pioneers, (now in his grave,) who, if not a direct actor
in some of the scenes portrayed in the pages following, lived while
they were enacted, and trod upon the ground where many of them
occurred, while the actors in them were his friends and his neighbors.
Manifold, indeed, were the changes he witnessed during a long and
useful career; but the common lot of humanity was his, and he now
"sleeps the sleep that knows no waking," where once the lordly savage
roamed, and made the dim old woods echo with his whoop, many, many
years ago.
Lastly, it was through your encouragement that I undertook the task;
and it was through your kind and liberal spirit that I was enabled to
make it any thing more than an _unpublished_ history, unless I chose to
let others reap the benefit of my labors. These things, sir, you may
look upon as _private_, but I cannot refrain from giving them
publicity, since I acknowledge that your liberality has entailed upon
me a deeper debt of gratitude than I can repay by merely dedicating my
work to you.
Allow me, therefore, to dedicate to you, as a small token of my esteem
for you, the "History of the Early Settlement of the Juniata Valley."
If there is any thing in it to interest the present generation and
enlighten posterity, I am willing to divide the honor and glory of its
paternity with you, for I am neither afraid nor ashamed to confess
that, although I _wrote_ the _history_, it was through your generosity
that I was enabled to _publish_ the _book_.
A careful perusal of the work will, no doubt, convince you that I have
labored studiously to make it interesting, not only to the resident of
the Valley, but to the general reader, who must admit that, if I have
failed, it has not been for lack of the best exertions on my part.
In conclusion, should the book prove a failure, and not come up to the
expectations of my friends, you can console yourself with the
reflection that you made a mistake by inciting the wrong man to an
undertaking for which he was unqualified. A pleasant reflection! I
have said, that, as you were the _originator_ of the book, you should
share all the _honor_ that might arise from it. I will be more
magnanimous still; if the History proves a mere catchpenny swindle,
let the odium and execrations of a humbugged public fall upon
THE AUTHOR.
HOLLIDAYSBURG, PA., _Nov._ 1855.
PREFACE.
The design, object, and aim of the following pages can be summed up
without any circumlocution. Some ten or twelve years ago, a large
volume of "Historical Collections of Pennsylvania" was published by
Sherman Day, which gave a brief history, among others, of the
counties composing the Valley of the Juniata. This work was followed
by a compilation, by I. D. Rupp, Esq., entitled "A History of
Northumberland, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Centre, Union, Clinton, Juniata,
and Columbia counties." The last, as far as our valley was concerned,
was almost a reprint of the first, with some few additions gleaned from
the Colonial Records and the Archives of the State. Both these works
were most liberally subscribed for; in fact, the compilation of the
counties had upwards of a _thousand_ subscribers in Huntingdon county
(Blair not then formed) alone! The inducements held out, in order to
gain such an extensive list, were, that the works would be graphic
histories of the _early_ settlement of this country. In this they
signally failed. True, here and there they gave an account of some
early occurrence; but they were exceedingly brief, lacked detail, and
in many instances were found grossly inaccurate. Of course, they gave
universal dissatisfaction, because the subscribers looked for a
faithful record of the stirring events which occurred when this portion
of the land of Penn was "the dark and bloody ground." The descendants
of many who figured in the trials incident to the settlement of the
valley are still living. The fireside recitals of these events made
them "as familiar as household words" among those who are now fast
passing away; but they search _all_ histories in vain to find a
faithful account of more than a moiety of the struggles, trials, and
personal adventures of the pioneers, as well as the many cold-blooded
Indian massacres and depredations which spread desolation through the
land, and laid waste the homes and firesides of so many who located in
what was then a wilderness. Let me not be understood as attempting to
deny the merits of the works of which I have spoken. As _modern_
histories, giving accounts, or rather descriptions, of the country as
it was at the time they were issued, they were faithful records.
Indeed, I will do Mr. Rupp the justice to say that I consider his
compilation all it professes to be, according to his preface, in which
he says: "A full and minute history of these counties can only be
expected after a greater accumulation of historical facts is extant for
that purpose."
The facts necessary to give a minute history of the early settlement of
the Juniata have been accessible, although it must be admitted that
those who could give them from reliable personal recollections have
nearly all passed into "the valley and the shadow of death."
Some ten or twelve years ago, Judge M'Cune, Judge Adams, Michael
Maguire, and Edward Bell, Esq., met at the mansion of the latter
gentleman, in Antes township, Blair county, by invitation. These were
all old settlers, whose memories dated back to the struggle of the
infant colonies for freedom; and most vividly did they recollect the
Indian butcheries when brave Old England paid a stipulated price for
rebel scalps. The reunion of these veterans was an epoch in their
lives, for they had been children together, had travelled the same
rugged path, and, with stalwart frames, sinewy arms, and willing
hearts, had earned for themselves names, reputation, and earthly
competence. Well may we conjecture that, in fighting the battle of life
over again in story, some interesting incidents were related. During
this reunion, a history of the early settlement of the upper end of the
valley was written, and the manuscript transmitted to the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, in the expectation that it would be published
in some of their works. This, however, never was done; and when
application was made to the society for a return of the manuscript, it
was either lost or mislaid.
Since then, one by one, these old patriots have passed from time to
eternity, and the woods and valleys that knew them for three-quarters
of a century shall know them no more. With them would, in all
probability, have been buried many important facts, had not the author
of these pages called upon the last survivor, Michael Maguire, in
October last, and taken down, at length, all his early recollections.
The time was most opportune, for he was even then upon his deathbed.
The sands of a long life were evidently ebbing fast, and he knew it,
for he gave it as his solemn conviction that the proposed recital of
the past was the last he should ever make to mortal man. Although
enfeebled by age, and his body wasting away, his intellect was vigorous
and unclouded, and his memory fresh as it was fourscore years ago.
Indeed, I soon found that he had the most retentive memory of any man I
ever knew, because, in narrating incidents, he gave days, dates, and
names, with such ease as almost to stagger belief. Of course, to him I
am mainly indebted for the material of that part of the History
treating of the upper end of the valley, especially the occurrences
between 1776 and 1782. Mr. M. died on the 17th inst.
From a manuscript memoir of E. Bell, Esq., I have also been enabled to
glean some useful information. He commenced it a short time before his
death, and it is to be deeply regretted that a violent attack of
rheumatism in the hand compelled him to abandon the work after writing
some six or eight pages.
I am also indebted to a number of persons for information that has been
of value to me, whose names will be mentioned in another place in the
work.
If this volume fails to meet the expectations of those kind friends who
have interested themselves in my behalf, it will not be for lack of
zeal or perseverance on my part. I am free to confess that the language
of the book is not clothed in that attractive garb which makes books
popular in the age we live in; but then it must be remembered that I am
not, worthy reader, submitting to your judgment a romance, but a
History, based upon immutable and undying TRUTHS.
U. J. JONES.
HOLLIDAYSBURG, _Nov._ 1855.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
The Aborigines of the Valley--Their Habits and Customs 17
CHAPTER II.
History of the Early Settlers 39
CHAPTER III.
Juniata Island--An Indian Paradise--Rev. David Brainerd--The Early
Settlers, Hulings, Watts, and Baskins--Indian Battles--Remarkable
Escape of Mrs. Hulings 56
CHAPTER IV.
Indian Towns along the Juniata--Lost Creek Valley discovered--Mexico
first settled by Capt. James Patterson, in 1751--Indian Attack upon
Settlers at the House of William White--Massacre of White--Capture
of John Riddle--His Release from Captivity, etc. 68
CHAPTER V.
Early Settlers at Licking Creek--Relics of an Indian Battle--House
of Robert Campbell attacked--James Campbell wounded and taken
prisoner--Scout sent from Sherman's Creek--Encounter with Indians
at Buffalo Creek--Five of the Scout killed, etc. 76
CHAPTER VI.
Tuscarora Valley--Its Early Settlement--Its Mounds and its Forts,
Massacres, etc. 83
CHAPTER VII.
Fort Granville--Old Indian Town--Early Settlers--Captain Jacobs--
Assault and Capture of the Fort, etc. 91
CHAPTER VIII.
Organization of Mifflin County--Dispute with Huntingdon County
about the Boundary Line--Riot at Lewistown, etc. 98
CHAPTER IX.
Kishicoquillas Valley--The Shawnee Chief Kishicokelas--The Mingo
Chief Logan 110
CHAPTER X.
Colonel John Armstrong's Expedition against Kittaning--List of the
Killed and Wounded--Delaware Chiefs, Captain Jacobs and Shingas,
etc. 121
CHAPTER XI.
Old Indian Town--Indian Paths--Aughwick--Murder of John Armstrong
and Party--Captain Jack, the Wild Hunter of the Juniata--George
Crogan, etc. 133
CHAPTER XII.
Raystown Branch--Early Settlement of Raystown--General Forbes's
Expedition--Colonels Washington and Boquet--Colonel Armstrong's
Letter--Smith and his "Black Boys"--Bloody Run--Robbery--Indian
Massacres--Revolutionary Lieutenants of Bedford County, etc. 161
CHAPTER XIII.
Raystown Branch, continued--Murder of Sanders and his Family--
Englishman and his Wife taken Prisoners--Felix Skelly and Mrs.
Elder taken Captives--Their Return, etc. 175
CHAPTER XIV.
Standing Stone, ancient and modern--Murder of Felix Donnelly and
his son Francis, etc. 183
CHAPTER XV.
Trials of the Early Settlers--Their Forts and other Means of
Defence, etc. 193
CHAPTER XVI.
The Early Settlers--Old Hart, the Indian Trader 198
CHAPTER XVII.
The Continental Mills of the Valley 203
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Cove--Early Settlement by Dunkards--Indian Massacres and
Captivities--Massacre of Ullery and Hammond--A Resistant Dunkard,
etc. 207
CHAPTER XIX.
Tommy Coleman, the Indian-Fighter--Surprise of the Dunkard
Murderers, etc. 218
CHAPTER XX.
Sinking Valley--The Lead Mines--Fort Roberdeau--Indian Murder and
Heroic Conduct of a Woman--Encounter with a Savage--Massacre of
Roller and Bebault, etc. 227
CHAPTER XXI.
Tories of the Valley--Their unfortunate Expedition to join the
Indians at Kittaning--Captain John Weston, the Tory Leader--Captain
Thomas Blair--Capture of the Brothers Hicks--Hanging a Tory--Narrow
Escape of two of Weston's men, etc. 248
CHAPTER XXII.
The Tory Hare--Murder of Loudenslager--Abduction and Murder of Mrs.
Eaton and Children--Treatment of Hare by the Settlers, etc. 259
CHAPTER XXIII.
Moses Donaldson--Capture and Murder of his Wife and two Children 266
CHAPTER XXIV.
Depredations at the Mouth of Spruce Creek--Murder of Levi Hicks--
Scalping of his Child 270
CHAPTER XXV.
Stone Valley--McCormick's Fort--Murder of Mrs. Houston and James
McClees--A Dealer in Grain of the Olden Time 275
CHAPTER XXVI.
Tuckahoe--Murder of John Guilliford 280
CHAPTER XXVII.
Early Settlement of Scotch Valley--The Moore Family--Massacre of
William Moore--Indian shot by a Boy, etc. 283
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Woodcock Valley--Massacre of Elder--The Breckenridge Family--Fight
with, and Destruction of, Captain Phillips's Scout by the Indians--
Cruel Massacre of ten Men 289
CHAPTER XXIX.
Water Street--The Beatty Family--Captain Simonton--Massacre of the
Dean Family--Captivity of John Simonton, etc. 301
CHAPTER XXX.
Hollidaysburg--The Holliday Family--Death of Lieutenant Holliday
at the Battle of Brandywine--Massacre of a portion of William
Holliday's Family--John Holliday, etc. 310
CHAPTER XXXI.
Old Indian Town of Frankstown--Indian Burial-Places--Massacre of
the Bedford Scout, etc. 324
CHAPTER XXXII.
Shaver's Creek--Mysterious Death of old Shaver--Heroic Conduct of
two Children--Abduction of Miss Ewing and Miss McCormick--Peter
Crum, the last Victim of the Savages, etc. 337
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Warrior Ridge--Warrior's Mark--Job Chillaway, Shaney John, and
Captain Logan, the last Red Men in the Juniata Valley 347
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Conclusion 355
APPENDIX.
The Valley as it is 359
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE JUNIATA VALLEY.
CHAPTER I.
THE ABORIGINES OF THE VALLEY--THEIR HABITS AND THEIR CUSTOMS.
When the persevering and adventurous Anglo-Saxon first entered the
wilds of the Juniata, his eye, as far as it could reach, beheld
nothing but a dense forest; but his quick penetration observed its
natural beauties, its advantages, and the fertility of its soil. Hence
he did not long stand upon the crest of the Tuscarora Mountain,
debating the advantages to be derived from making it his home, or the
risk he was taking upon himself in doing so, but plunged boldly down
into the valley and called it his own. He found it peopled with dusky
warriors and their families, who received him with open arms; and the
golden hues of hope for the future lightened his cares, and made his
privations no longer a burden. On the banks of the beautiful river the
majestic stag trod, a very monarch; and the pellucid stream, from the
bubbling brooks that formed it, to its mouth, was filled with the
noble salmon and sportive trout, with little to molest them; for the
Indians did not possess the penchant for indiscriminate slaughter of
game which characterized their successors. They held that the land was
given to human beings by the good _Manitou_ for a dwelling-place, and
not for the purpose of being broken up and cultivated for game. The
fish and game were also a free gift from the same spirit, for the
support of his people. Hence hunting and fishing for more than what
would supply immediate and absolute wants were held in supreme
contempt by the red man.
The Indians found in the valley, when the whites first invaded it,
belonged to three or four tribes--the Delawares, Monseys, Shawnees,
and probably the Tuscaroras; all of whom, with the exception of the
latter, belonged to one of the eight great Indian confederations
scattered over the land, from the Rocky Mountains to what they called,
in their figurative language, the rising of the sun. These Indians
called themselves the _Lenni Lenape_, or "original people," of which
the Delawares and Monseys were by far the most numerous of the tribes
settled in the valley. The Shawnees, a restless, lawless, and
ferocious band, were threatened with extermination by a powerful foe
in Florida, when they came to Pennsylvania and craved the protection
of the _Lenapes_, which was granted to them, and they were permitted
to settle upon the lands of the Delawares. The Delaware Indians soon
discovered that the Shawnees were quarrelsome and treacherous
neighbors, and their company not desirable. Notice was given them to
quit, and they settled upon the flats of the Susquehanna, near
Wilkesbarre, and from thence they found their way to the Juniata; and
there is little doubt but that they were first and foremost in the
depredations committed during the French and Indian wars, as well as
during the American Revolution. The Tuscaroras did not claim to belong
to the _Lenape_ tribes, yet a large portion of them lived in their
territory. They came from the South, and joined the _Aquanuschioni_,
or "united people," known in history as the Six Nations. As they did
not speak the language of either the "united people" or the "original
people," it would appear that they were people on their own account,
enjoying a sort of roving commission to hunt the lands and fish the
streams of any of "their cousins," as they styled all other tribes.
The Conoy Indians settled in the valley in 1748. They left the
Delaware on the strength of a promise made them by the proprietary
government that they should be remunerated. The debt, however, we
presume, must have been repudiated, for we find that an Indian orator
named _Arruehquay_, of the Six Nations, made application to Governor
Hamilton, during a "talk" in Philadelphia on the 1st of July, 1749,
for something for them. The governor, quite as much of an adept at
wheedling the savages as the proprietors themselves, returned the
Conoy wampum, and "talked" the Seneca orator out of the belief that
they owed the Conoys a single farthing, in consequence of their having
left their land and settled among the nations of the Juniata of their
own free will and accord. He ruled out the Conoy claim, and confirmed
his opinion by sending them a string of government wampum. Whether
this satisfied the Conoys or not does not appear upon the record. We
think not--at least we should not suppose that they were half as well
satisfied as the Six Nation deputies, who carried away, among other
plunder, a quantity of tobacco and pipes, fifty ruffled shirts, and a
gross and a half of brass jewsharps!
The Nanticokes settled about the mouth of the Juniata in 1748 or 1749,
and in after years spread westward toward the Ohio. This portion of the
tribe, when it first came to the Juniata, was not very formidable; but
it increased and became powerful.
A number of Mengues, Mingoes, or Iroquois, of the Six Nations, settled
a few years afterward in Kishacoquillas Valley, now Mifflin county.
Of all the savages in the valley, the Mingoes were probably the most
peaceably disposed, although it is a well-attested fact that they were
a brave and warlike band. The fathers of the principal chiefs of the
Mingoes, settled in the Juniata Valley, had been _partially_ (if we
may use the term) Christianized by the teachings of the Moravian
missionaries, Heckwelder, Zinzendorf, and Loskiel; and this may account
for their desire to live on terms of amity and friendship with their
pale-faced brethren.
As the Delawares, or Lenapes, claimed to be the original people, we
must come to the conclusion that they came toward the east before the
Iroquois. They probably came from a northern direction, while the
united people worked their way from the northwest to the northeast. To
call these men original people, in the sense in which they applied it,
may have been right enough; but to apply the term to them of
_original_, as occupants of the country, is a misnomer, not only
according to their own oral traditions, but according to the most
indubitable evidence of antiquarians and geologists.
The traditions of the _Lenapes_ were, in effect, that their ancestors
were a mighty band of fierce warriors, who came from the setting of
the sun, part of the way by canoes, and the balance of the way over
land,--through dense forests, beautiful valleys, over lofty mountains.
In their triumphant march they met but one foe, whom they trampled
under their feet as the buffalo does the grass under his hoofs, and
that this weak and effeminate foe was entirely exterminated.
These traditions, vague as they are, and as all oral traditions forever
must be, have certainly a foundation in fact. Drake, whose Indian
history is regarded as the most reliable, gives it as his opinion,
formed only after all the facts could be collected and all the
traditions fully digested, that the Indians originally came from Asia,
by way of Behring's Straits.
The patient investigations made by antiquarians have long since settled
the fact, to the entire satisfaction of most people, that a race did
exist in this country prior to the advent and on the arrival of the
Indians. The relics of this race, consisting of vases, pipes,
earthenware, etc., found during the last century, indicate not only a
race entirely different from the Indians, but one much farther advanced
in civilization. The Indians, however, it would appear, either scorned
their handicraft, or never took time to examine thoroughly the habits
of these people before they exterminated them in order to possess their
country. These relics bear a marked resemblance to those dug from ruins
in Egypt, as well as those found in Peru. In fact, the vases, and some
of the earthenware, bear such a strong resemblance to the Peruvian
antiquities, that it is the settled conviction of some that the earlier
settlers of both North and South America were identical, and that the
original stock was a tribe of Egyptians.
Some writers have asserted that these early inhabitants were
non-resistants. This is most unquestionably an error. The traditions of
the Indians say that their ancestors fought many battles before they
conquered the country; but that they _always_ were victorious. Of
course, this might be mere vain boasting by the Indians of their
ancestors' prowess and skill in war, and such we would look upon it, if
their oral history was not strengthened by the fact that, on the banks
of the Miami, Muskingum, Kanawha, and Ohio Rivers, ancient
fortifications, or at least well-defined traces of them, have been
found. Nor is this all; tolerably well-executed implements, evidently
intended for warlike purposes, have been taken from mounds, as well as
many unmistakable stone arrow-heads.
Whether this anterior race existed to any considerable extent along the
Juniata we are not prepared to say; but that some of them once lived
here is more than probable, although antiquarians have failed to extend
their researches to the valley. Among the evidences to induce the
belief that these ancients once occupied our land, we shall refer to
the most prominent, leaving the reader to make his own deductions.
When the excavation for the Pennsylvania Canal was going on, a laborer
dug up, near Newport, a stone shaped like a Greek Cross. The formation
of the stone bore unmistakable evidence that it was not a mere freak of
nature. This attracted attention, and the stone was thoroughly
cleansed, when the transverse was found to contain hieroglyphics,
plainly marked with some sharp pointed instrument. Persons who saw it
supposed that the French might have given it to the Indians, and that
they used it for a purpose similar to that for which the Standing Stone
was used, and that they brought it from Canada to the Juniata. This
supposition was based upon the formation of the stone; but, strange to
say, the hieroglyphics bore no resemblance to any thing pertaining to
the modern Indians. It _may_, therefore, have belonged to the
anterior race, and the person who shaped it may have been utterly
ignorant of the fact that it was the symbol of the Christian religion.
The cross was sent to Philadelphia to be submitted to the inspection of
the _savans_ of the Historical Society, but was lost on the way;
at all events, it never reached its intended destination.
Speaking on the subject of antiquities with a physician some years
ago,--probably the late Dr. Coffey,--he informed us that a skeleton was
dug up near Frankstown, which he did not believe belonged to any of the
tribes of Indians whose mounds are scattered so profusely along the
Juniata. He arrived at this conclusion from numerous personal
observations he made. In the first place, the body retained a portion
of dried withered flesh, and portions of papyrus or bark-cloth
enveloped the body, so that it must have undergone some species of
embalming before sepulture. Embalming was unknown to the Indians.
Secondly, the body was in a horizontal position, north and south,
whereas the Indians always buried in a sitting posture, with the face
to the east. And, finally, the body was buried alone, while the Indian
method was to have one common grave for all who died for years. Some
articles were found when the skeleton was exhumed; but they were so
much corroded as to be useless even for scientific investigation.
In breaking up a piece of new ground in Kishacoquillas Valley some
twenty-five, or probably thirty, years ago, traces of a well-defined
wall were discovered, which was traced, and found to enclose about an
acre of ground. Although the stones that formed this wall were the
ordinary stones found along the stream, fashioned and shaped by the
great Architect of the world himself, it is certain that human hands
placed them in the position in which they were found. The whole thing
was destroyed before any mention was made of it.
In addition to these evidences, we have heard of arrow-heads and
pottery being dug up in other sections of the valley; but, taking it
for granted that they were all Indian relics, no effort was ever made
to have a thorough investigation of their origin.
How long this continent was occupied by the Indians found here on the
arrival of the Northmen is a mooted point, on which no two historians
can agree. The Indian method of computing time by moons is rather vague
to base a calculation upon. Those who contend that they originated from
one of the lost tribes of Israel, endeavor to prove that they have been
here for many centuries; while others, basing their calculations upon
the usual increase of the human family, think that the numbers found
here on the discovery of the continent would indicate that they had
been here but three or four centuries. This we think a reasonable
conclusion, for it is an undisputed fact that the Indians, previous to
the advent of the whites, multiplied quite as rapidly as their
civilized brethren; while the tender care and solicitude they evinced
for children and aged people induces the belief that the deaths among
them were not in proportion as one to six to the births.
We now come to the religious belief of the savages found in the
Juniata Valley. The general impression of persons who have not read
Indian history is that they were idolaters. Such, however, is not the
fact. They worshipped no "graven image." Their belief was based upon a
supreme good and an evil _Manitou_ or spirit, and their subordinates,--the
former of which they worshipped, while the anger of the latter was
appeased by propitiatory offerings or sacrifices. It is true they had
images, in the form of a head carved out of wood, which represented
the good _Manitou_, and which they wore around their necks as a
talisman against disease and to insure success in great undertakings;
but even Loskiel, who spent a long time among them as a missionary,
makes no mention of their worshipping their inanimate gods. Their
worship generally consisted of sacrificial feasts, sometimes by the
entire tribe, and at other times by single families. In the fall they
invariably had a sort of general harvest-home gathering, when
bear's-meat and venison were served up,--the universal custom being to
eat all prepared. When provisions were scarce, such an arrangement was
no doubt satisfactory; but we can well imagine that when there was an
undue proportion of meats to guests the custom must have proved
exceedingly irksome. After the meal, the monotonous drum and the
calabash with pebbles were brought out, and those who had not gorged
themselves to repletion joined in the dance. One of the chiefs usually
chanted a hymn, or rather song, of irregular measure, in praise of the
_Manitous_, and extolling the heroic deeds of the ancestors of the
tribes. A second religious performance consisted of a sacred dance, in
which the men alone appeared, in almost a state of nudity, with their
bodies covered with pipe-clay. This was probably a dance of humble
contrition. A third feast, or religious observance, consisted of some
ten or a dozen of the oldest men and women of a tribe enveloping
themselves in deer-skins, standing with their faces to the east, and
petitioning the good _Manitou_ to bless all their benefactors. There
were other religious rites and sacrifices, which can be of little
general interest to the reader, such as a sacrificial feast in honor
of fire, another to propitiate the _Manitou_ before going to war, &c.
We shall, therefore, conclude this part of the subject by giving the
story of an old trader who traded through the valley in 1750. Of
course we did not get it direct from his own lips, for he has been
dead and in his grave for many years; but, even if we did get it
second-hand, it is nevertheless true.
Some time in the spring of 1750, the old trader, whose name has now
escaped our memory, received a pressing invitation to visit Standing
Stone a day or two before the first full moon in September, as a grand
feast was to come off at that time, which would be attended by six or
eight tribes. The trader, foreseeing the chance of brisk barter,
brought a large quantity of goods from Lancaster, on pack-horses, and
arrived a day or two before the sports commenced. He found preparations
made for a large company; and he accordingly pitched his tent on the
hill, while the wigwams of the Indians stood upon the flat near the
mouth of Stone Creek. On the day on which the feast was to commence,
the trader was awakened at an early hour by the loud whoops of the
savages already arriving to take part in the ceremonies. The day wore
on; and when the sun reached the zenith a thousand warriors and their
squaws, in their best attire, had gathered upon the greensward. At the
hour of twelve o'clock precisely, a chief, whom the trader supposed to
be at least a hundred years of age, arose from the ground, while all
the rest retained a cross-legged, sitting posture. The trader
understood enough of the Delaware language to ascertain that the feast
was one which took place every hundred moons, to render thanks to the
_Manitou_ for preserving them a great people. After congratulating
the different tribes, and welcoming them to this friendly reunion, an
immense pipe was brought into the arena, which passed from mouth to
mouth, each man taking but a single whiff. Of course the women formed
the outer circle, and took no further part in the proceedings than
merely looking on. Two half-grown lads followed the big pipe with a
small bag of _Kinnikinique_, and ever and anon replenished the
bowl. This consumed an hour, during which time there was profound
silence. The old sachem then arose, and said the balance of the day
would be given up to festivities. The assemblage broke up into small
parties, and as each tribe had their medicine-men, musicians, and
prophets along, the tum tum of the drum and the wild chant were soon
heard, and the dusky sons and daughters of the forest went into the
dance of the gay and light-hearted with a thousand times more vigor
than the beau and belle of the modern ball-room.
Many of the Indians called upon the trader, and were anxious to barter
for "_lum_;" but, notwithstanding that he had five kegs of rum, and
the most friendly feeling existed between himself and the tribes, he
refused to deal. In fact, he was a prudent man, and did not consider it
altogether safe. The festivities of the day and part of the night were
kept up with dancing, singing, and howling. The, next day, religious
exercises followed; and on the third a very solemn and impressive
ceremony was to take place, to wind up the meeting, at which the trader
was urgently invited to be present, and in an evil moment gave his
consent to do so. Accordingly he sold all of his barrels or kegs of
rum, packed up the balance of his goods, and started his pack-horse
train to Aughwick, himself and horse alone remaining behind.
At the appointed time in the evening for the feast, a large fire of dry
wood was built, and the savages commenced dancing around it, howling,
and throwing their bodies into the most violent contortions, first
stepping three or four feet forward, with the body inclined in the same
direction; then, throwing the body backward, moved on, keeping time
with the drum and the chant. As one party got tired, or probably
roasted out, they danced away, and another set took their places. When
the fire burnt fiercest, and the lurid flame lit the surrounding hills,
a wild chorus was sung in unison that might have been heard for miles.
This, the trader was told, was the _loud_ hymn of adoration. He
did not dispute the assertion. The rum he had sold the Indians began to
work, and the old fox was enjoying some funny scenes not set down in
the bills of the day. Occasionally a chief, under the wild influence of
the _fire-water_, would make a misstep and tramp upon the burning
coals. To see him quitting in a hurry afforded the trader an infinite
deal of amusement. At length the pile was reduced to coals, when an
Indian brought forth from a wigwam a live dog, and threw him upon the
burning embers. Another and another followed, until ten dogs were
thrown upon the fire. Of course they tried to escape, but the Indians
hemmed them in so completely that this was a matter of impossibility.
They set up a dreadful howl, but the Indians drowned the canine noise
by another stave of their loud chorus. The odor of the roasting dogs
did not sit well upon the trader's stomach, and, bidding adieu to his
immediate acquaintances, he expressed a determination to leave for
Aughwick. This his friends would not permit, and insisted most
vehemently that he should see the end of it. As he had seen
considerable fun, he thought he might wait and see it out, as the
carcasses of the dogs would soon be consumed. In this, however, he was
mistaken, for the medicine-men drew them from the fire, placed them
upon wooden platters, and cut them into pieces. Five or six of them
carried them around among the auditory, offering to each chief a piece,
who not only took it, but eagerly ate it. The conclusion of this feast
we give in the trader's own words:--
"At last they came where I was sitting, among the only sober chiefs
in the party. The stench of the half-roasted dogs was awful. One of
them came with his trencher to me, and offered me a piece,--a
choice piece, too, as I was an invited guest, being a piece of the
most unclean part of the entrails. 'Thank'ee,' said I; 'never dine
on dog.' But this did not satisfy them. One of the prophets,
laboring under the effects of about a quart of my rum, insisted on
me eating what was offered to me. I again declined, when one of the
chiefs informed me that it was a very sacred feast, and unless I
partook of my allotted portion I would highly insult the Indians,
and some of those intoxicated might deprive me of my scalp. The
thing was no longer a joke, and I seized the piece of dog entrail
and put it in my mouth, in hopes of spitting it out; but they
watched me so close that by one mighty effort I managed to swallow
it. I did not wait to see the end of the feast; I had my portion,
and thought I might as well retire. I started in the direction of
Aughwick, and every half mile the nauseous dog served every purpose
of a powerful emetic. I was a much sicker man next day than if I
had drank a gallon of my own rum; and, in all my dealings with the
red men, I took particular care never again to be present at any
dog feast!"
Of the social and general character of the savages we have many
contradictions. Heckwelder, the old Moravian Missionary, whose innate
goodness found
"Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and God in every thing,"
intimated that some of their social habits, such as their tender
solicitude for infants and the great deference and respect they paid to
the aged, were noble traits in their character. Loskiel says that "in
common life and conversation, the Indians observed great decency. They
usually treated one another, and strangers, with kindness and civility,
and without empty compliments. In the converse of both sexes, the
greatest decency and propriety were observed. They were sociable and
friendly. Difference of rank, with all its consequences, was not to be
found among the Indians. They were equally noble and free. The only
difference consisted in wealth, age, dexterity, courage, and office."
Their hospitality to strangers knew no bounds. In some instances it
was carried to extremes. An Indian who would not hospitably entertain
a stranger under his roof, and attend to all his wants as far as
lay within his power, was held in supreme contempt by all his
acquaintances. Indeed, the offence was deemed so grievous, that the
offender was not only detested and abhorred by all, but liable to
revenge from the person to whom the common and acknowledged rights of
hospitality were denied.
Lying, cheating, and stealing, as well as adultery and fornication,
were deemed scandalous offences, and were punished. They did not exist
to any great extent until the parent of them--drunkenness--was
introduced by the white man.
To these commendable traits in a savage people there were sad offsets.
The savage was cruel and exceedingly bloodthirsty. He never forgave a
premeditated injury; and if no opportunity offered to avenge himself,
he enjoined upon his descendants, "even to the third and fourth
generation," to revenge him. A hatred once formed against an enemy
could only be quenched with his blood. He would treasure up a wrong for
years, and it would rankle in his heart until he got his enemy into his
power, when flaying, roasting, or killing by inches, was not too cruel
a death to mete out to him. Nay, more than this,--in their wars neither
age, sex, nor condition, were taken into consideration; and the proud
warrior who sang the great and heroic deeds of his ancestors for a
thousand moons was not too proud to carry in his belt the scalp of an
innocent babe! But then the savage was untutored, and it unquestionably
was a part of his religion to put to death an enemy by the most cruel
torture; neither did he expect any other treatment if he fell into the
hands of a foe.
In ordinary life, there undoubtedly was some honor in the Indian,
but in war no trait of it was perceptible in his composition. To
slay an enemy while asleep, or destroy him by any stratagem, was
a feat to boast of, and claimed quite as much glory as if it had been
accomplished by the prowess of arms. To shoot an enemy from ambuscade,
or lure him to destruction by treachery that would be branded as most
infamous among civilized nations, were looked upon as exceedingly
cunning by the Indians.
As a general thing, they professed to abhor war among themselves,
and only declared it when aggravating circumstances absolutely
demanded;--that the question was deliberately debated by the tribe, and
if, after mature deliberation, a majority of the chiefs and captains
favored a war, speedy preparation was made for it; a red hatchet or
club was sent to the offending tribe, or one of them was caught,
scalped, and a war-club, painted red, laid by his side. Hostilities
were then commenced, and the war waged with the greatest fury until one
or the other party succumbed.
[Illustration: SCENE EAST OF PATTERSON.]
Now it happens that _professions_ do not always accord with _practice_,
and in this case we are quite sure they did not. The whole tenor and
bearing of the savages must lead us to believe that there was no avenue
open to the aspiring Indian to attain honor and distinction, except
through feats of arms and daring; and it is only too true that he
shared the common weakness of humanity in loving the "pride, pomp, and
circumstance of glorious warfare." The proof of this is that some of
their most bloody conflicts were caused by the most trivial
circumstances.
That they had many fierce and sanguinary struggles among themselves is
well authenticated. A battle almost of extermination was once fought
between two tribes at Juniata,--now known as Duncan's Island,--within
the memory of many Indians who were living when the whites settled
among them. This island must have been a famous battle-ground--a very
Waterloo--in its day. When the canal was in progress of construction,
hundreds of skeletons were exhumed; and to this day stone arrow-heads
can be found upon almost any part of the island.
The Indian traditions also chronicle a fierce battle between two tribes
near Millerstown; another in Tuscarora, and another at Standing Stone.
The truth on which these traditions are based is made evident by the
fact that at those places, for years, Indian war-relics have been
found.
There existed for years the most intense and bitter feuds between the
Six Nations and the Lenape Indians, commonly called the Delawares. How
long the feud existed, or how many bloody conflicts they had to gain
the ascendency, cannot now, either by tradition or record, be made
reliable history. From the best information we can gather, it is highly
probable that these confederations had buried the hatchet a short time
previous to the landing of Penn. And we may also readily assume that
the final declaration of peace was sued for by the Delawares; for the
Iroquois always boasted that they had reduced them to the _condition of
women_ by their superior bravery and skill in war. This the Delawares
denied, and declared that "by treaty and voluntary consent they had
agreed to act as mediators and peacemakers among the other great
nations; and to this end they had consented to lay aside entirely the
implements of war, and to hold and to keep bright the chain of peace.
This, among individual tribes, was the usual province of women. The
Delawares, therefore, alleged that they were _figuratively_ termed
women on this account." This cunningly-devised story the Delawares
palmed upon the missionary Heckwelder while he labored among them, and
he was disposed to give them great credit. The Iroquois, having formed
an early alliance with the Dutch on the Hudson, received fire-arms, and
by the liberal use of them soon brought refractory tribes out of their
confederation to terms, and reduced others to vassalage, and exacted
from them an annual tribute or an acknowledgment of fealty, permitting
them, on such conditions, to occupy certain hunting-grounds; and there
must, therefore, have been at least _some_ truth in the allegation of
the Iroquois that the Delawares were "conquered by their arms, and were
compelled to this humiliating concession as the only means of averting
impending destruction." It is said, however, that the Delawares were
finally enabled to throw off this galling yoke, through the influence
of Zeedyusung, a powerful chief, who extorted from the Iroquois an
acknowledgment of their independence at a treaty held at Tioga in 1756.
"The humiliation of tributary nations was, however, tempered with a
paternal regard for their interests in all negotiations with the
whites; and care was taken that no trespasses should be committed
on their rights, and that they should be justly dealt with."
So says the record; and yet we find that the sachems of the Six
Nations, who had evidently learned from the whites both the use and
abuse of money, in July, 1754, at Albany, sold all the lands in the
State, not previously purchased, "lying southwest of a line beginning
one mile above the mouth of Penn's Creek, and running northwest-by-west
to the western boundary of the State." This sold the land from under
the feet of the Delawares, Shawnees, and Monseys, of the Juniata
Valley, notwithstanding the Six Nations had guaranteed it to them
forever as a sacred hunting-ground. This act of treachery on the part
of the Iroquois, and the insatiate appetite of the proprietors to add
broad acres to their extensive domain, caused many of these homeless
tribes to go over to the French, and, as a writer truly adds, "the
blood of Braddock's soldiers was added to the price of the land."
But to return to the original settlement of the valley. The Indians
unquestionably received the white adventurers with open arms, and
extended to them such a hearty welcome as must have banished all
fears for the future. The savages looked upon the death-dealing rifle
with superstitious awe; and the saw, the axe, the plane, and other
implements of handicraft in the possession of the whites, made them a
high order of beings, endowed with peculiar gifts by the Great Spirit,
in the eyes of the Indians, and their persons were regarded as sacred.
They shared with them their rude huts, and left nothing undone within
their power to render them comfortable.
And for this noble and magnanimous conduct on the part of the Indian,
what return did the white man make? Such a one only, we regret to say,
as makes no bright page in their history. They were taught all the
vices of civilization, but to teach them its virtues was deemed a work
of supererogation. The ignorant Indian and his primitive habits were
treated with disdain, and he was deemed a fit subject for robbery
whenever opportunity offered--this more especially by the lawless, who
considered themselves out of the reach of government and its officers.
A gradual encroachment upon the Indian's sacred hunting-grounds, and
the refusal of the white man to look upon him as any thing but a
degraded being or to associate with him on an equality, soon taught the
Indian that he had taken into fellowship the crafty white man only to
enable him to suck out his existence by his superior skill and his
subtle cunning. The keen penetration of the savage soon discovered the
position he occupied by the side of his white brother. Smarting under
the indignities offered, and foreseeing the degradation to which he
would be subjected in time, the red man and the white man did not long
dwell together in unity. While the latter commenced tilling the land
and surrounding himself with the comforts of civilization, the former
fled before him to the mountains and valleys where he was monarch of
the land,--where the council-fire could blaze, the green-corn dance and
song be heard, and the calumet of peace be smoked without the presence
of the white man.
Yet, with all the encroachments upon their rights by the settlers, the
Indians exercised great forbearance. They knew the warlike appliances
in the power of the proprietary government; hence they repeatedly
declared their wish to "keep bright the chain of friendship;"--in less
figurative language, they did not want to go to war. No depredations
were committed upon the whites, of any consequence, before the French
tampered with them and the Six Nations perfidiously sold the land they
had given "their cousins" as a sacred hunting-ground. Nor even then,
although the aggravation was great, did all the Indians leave the
valley to join the French. Many who were friendly toward the
proprietary government remained until war broke out between the
colonies and Great Britain; and some few peaceably-disposed fragments
of tribes even lingered in the valley until the close of the
Revolutionary war.
During the French and Indian war, and at its close, many of the Indians
returned, and lived for some years in the valley unmolested. But in
1761-62 the footprints of the white man were seen in their paths, and
civilization began to crowd them. The white adventurers crowded so
thick upon them, that, after the war of 1764, the greater portion of
them left; nor did they return again until 1777, when they appeared as
allies to the British crown, to massacre and scalp the unprotected
frontier-men. To stimulate them to this inhuman warfare, the British
not only impressed it upon them that they were redressing grievances,
but they actually paid them a stipulated price for every scalp, of
child as well as adult, brought to the Canadian frontier.
The Indians who figured in the predatory incursions from 1776 to 1781
were probably Delawares, Monseys, Nanticokes, Shawnees, and Tuscaroras;
but they were then only known as Delawares, all other titles having
been merged into that of the most powerful tribe. That these tribes
were the ones who committed most of the depredations, we judge from the
fact that the elder chiefs and captains emigrated to the Canadian
frontier from the Juniata Valley, and consequently knew every foot of
the valley, from the base of the Alleghany Mountains to the very mouth
of the river.