OLD INDIAN TOWN--INDIAN PATHS--AUGHWICK--MURDER OF JOHN ARMSTRONG AND
PARTY--CAPTAIN JACK, THE WILD HUNTER OF THE JUNIATA--GEORGE CROGAN,
ETC.
As we ascend the river, the nearer we approach the base of the
Alleghany Mountains the fewer places we find even mentioned in quite
early history. On the flat eight or nine miles west of Lewistown, near
a large spring, stood an old Shawnee town. It is mentioned as early as
1731, in a report of the number of Indians accompanying the deposition
of some traders. The town was called _Ohesson_, on the "Choniata," and
supposed to be sixty miles distant from the Susquehanna. As this is
Indian computation, some allowance must be made, for in the same
connection we notice the Indian town of _Assunnepachla_ set down as
being distant one hundred miles from Ohesson by water and fifty miles
by land. Assunnepachla was the Indian name of Frankstown; and no
person, by following the most sinuous windings of the river, can make
the distance to Lewistown over eighty miles.
These places were probably never visited by any but Indian traders
previous to Braddock's defeat, and the consequence is that we are
without any record of Ohesson, which was evidently destroyed and
abandoned at an early day. Assunnepachla, however, stood for many
years, but it lost its name before it became a place of importance to
the whites.
Aughwick, it is said, had the honor of receiving the first white
settlers, in 1749, that came within the present limits of Huntingdon
county. Of course, they were in search of choice lands, and there is
reason to believe they found them, too, notwithstanding the proprietors
and their man Peters, in a year thereafter, ousted them by burning
their cabins over their heads. Aughwick Valley is in the extreme
southern part of Huntingdon county, and, if not a regular continuation
of the Tuscarora Valley, is at least one of the chain of valleys
through whose entire length ran the celebrated Indian path from
Kittaning to Philadelphia,--the great western highway for footmen and
pack-horses.
This path, traces of which can yet be plainly seen in various places,
and especially in the wilds of the mountains, must have been a famous
road in its day. It commenced at Kittaning, on the Alleghany River, and
crossed the Alleghany Mountains in a southeastern direction, the
descent on the eastern slope being through a gorge, the mouth of which
is five or six miles west of Hollidaysburg, at what is well known as
Kittaning Point. From this it diverged in a southern direction until it
led to the flat immediately back of Hollidaysburg, from thence east,
wound round the gorge back of the Presbyterian graveyard, and led into
Frank's old town. From thence it went through what is now called Scotch
Valley, Canoe Valley, and struck the river at Water street. From thence
it led to Alexandria, crossed the river, and went into Hartsog Valley;
from thence to Woodcock Valley; from Woodcock Valley, across the
Broadtop Mountain, into Aughwick; from thence into the Tuscarora
Valley, and from thence into Sherman's Valley, by Sterritt's Gap.
At Kittaning Point, this path, although it is seldom that the foot of
any one but an occasional hunter or fisher treads it, is still the same
path it was when the last dusky warrior who visited the Juniata Valley
turned his face to the west, and traversed it for the last time. True,
it is filled up with weeds in summer-time, but the indentation made by
the feet of thousands upon thousands of warriors and pack-horses which
travelled it for an unknown number of years are still plainly visible.
We have gone up the Kittaning gorge two or three miles, repeatedly, and
looked upon the ruins of old huts, and the road, which evidently never
received the impression of a wagon-wheel, and were forcibly struck with
the idea that it must once have been traversed, without knowing at the
time that it was the famous Kittaning trail. In some places, where the
ground was marshy, close to the run, the path is at least twelve inches
deep, and the very stones along the road bear the marks of the
iron-shod horses of the Indian traders. Two years ago, we picked up, at
the edge of the run, a mile up the gorge, two gun-flints,--now rated as
relics of a past age. At the time we supposed that some modern Nimrod
lost them. Now, however, we incline to the belief that they fell from
the pocket of some weary soldier in Armstrong's battalion, who lay down
upon the bank of the brook to slake his thirst, nearly a hundred years
ago. The path can be traced in various other places, but nowhere so
plain as in the Kittaning gorge. This is owing to the fact that one or
two other paths led into it, and no improvement has been made in the
gorge east of "Hart's Sleeping Place," along the line of the path.
Aughwick was an Indian town, located probably near where Shirleysburg
now stands, and for a long time was an important frontier post. The
name of the place figures extensively in the Colonial Records, first as
a place where many conferences were held, and afterward as Fort
Shirley.
Previous to actual settlers coming into the Juniata Valley, every inch
of it was known to the traders--or, at least, every Indian town in it;
and how long they trafficked with the red men before actual settlers
came is unknown. Thus, for instance, six or seven years before the
settlement of Aughwick, a trader named John Armstrong, and his two
servant-men, were murdered at what is now Jack's Narrows, in Huntingdon
county. As there are several narrows along the Juniata, we should have
been at a loss to locate the scene of the murder, had we not
accidentally noticed in the Archives a calculation of distances by John
Harris, wherein he says--"From Aughwick to Jack Armstrong's Narrows--so
called from his being there murdered,--eight miles." At the time of the
massacre, the British colonists and the Indians were on the most
friendly terms of intimacy, and Armstrong was a man of some standing
and influence, so that the murder (the first one of so atrocious a
nature in that region) created the most intense excitement. Along with
Armstrong, his servant-men, James Smith and Woodward Arnold, were also
murdered. The charge was laid to a Delaware Indian, named Musemeelin,
and two companions. Seven white men and five Indians searched for the
bodies, found and buried them. The Indian was arrested and taken to
Lancaster, and from there removed to Philadelphia for trial, but
whether convicted or not the record does not say. _Allumoppies_,
King of the Delawares, Shickallemy, and a number of other Indians of
standing and influence, were brought before the council in
Philadelphia, when the friends of Armstrong produced the following
affidavit of those who searched for the bodies:--
_Paxton, April 19, 1744._
The deposition of the subscribers testifieth and saith, that the
subscribers, having a suspicion that John Armstrong, trader,
together with his men, James Smith and Woodward Arnold, were
murdered by the Indians, they met at the house of Joseph Chambers,
in Paxton, and there consulted to go to Shamokin, to consult with
the Delaware king and Shickcalimy, and there council what they
should do concerning the affair. Whereupon the king and council
ordered eight of their men to go with the deponents to the house of
James Berry, in order to go in quest of the murdered persons; but
that night they came to the said Berry's house three of the eight
Indians ran away; and the next morning these deponents, with the
five Indians that remained, set out on their journey, peaceably, to
the last supposed sleeping-place of the deceased; and upon their
arrival, these deponents dispersed themselves, in order to find out
the corpse of the deceased; and one of the deponents, named James
Berry, a small distance from the aforesaid sleeping-place, came to
a white-oak tree, which had three notches on it, and close by said
tree he found a shoulder-bone, which the deponent does suppose to
be John Armstrong's,--and that he himself was eaten by the
Indians,--which he carried to the aforesaid sleeping-place, and
showed it to his companions, one of whom handed it to the said five
Indians to know what bone it was; and they, after passing different
sentiments upon it, handed it to a Delaware Indian, who was
suspected by the deponents; and they testify and say that as soon
as the Indian took the bone in his hand his nose gushed out with
blood, and he directly handed it to another. From whence these
deponents steered along a path, about three or four miles, to the
Narrows of Juniata, where they suspected the murder to have been
committed; and where the Alleghany Road crosses the creek these
deponents sat down, in order to consult on what measures to take to
proceed on a discovery. Whereupon most of the white men, these
deponents, crossed the creek again, and went down the creek, and
crossed into an island, where these deponents had intelligence the
corpse had been thrown; and there they met the rest of the white
men and Indians who were in company, and there consulted to go
farther down the creek in quest of the corpse. And these deponents
further say, they ordered the Indians to go down the creek on the
other side; but they all followed these deponents at a small
distance, except one Indian, who crossed the creek again; and soon
after these deponents, seeing some bald eagles and other fowls,
suspected the corpse to be thereabouts, and then lost sight of the
Indians, and immediately found one of the corpses, which these
deponents say was the corpse of James Smith, one of said
Armstrong's men; and directly upon finding the corpse these
deponents heard three shots of guns, which they had great reason to
think were the Indians their companions, who had deserted from
them; and in order to let them know that they had found the corpse
these deponents fired three guns, but to no purpose, for they never
saw the Indians any more. And about a quarter of a mile down the
creek they saw more bald eagles, whereupon they made down toward
the place, where they found another corpse (being the corpse of
Woodworth Arnold, the other servant of said Armstrong) lying on a
rock, and then went to the former sleeping-place, where they had
appointed to meet the Indians; but saw no Indians, only that the
Indians had been there, and cooked some victuals for themselves and
had gone off.
And that night, the deponents further say, they had great reason to
suspect that the Indians were then thereabouts, and intended to do
them some damage; for a dog these deponents had with them barked
that night, which was remarkable, for the said dog had not barked
all the time they were out till that night, nor ever since, which
occasioned these deponents to stand upon their guard behind the
trees, with their guns cocked, that night. Next morning these
deponents went back to the corpses, which they found to be
barbarously and inhumanly murdered by very gashed, deep cuts on
their hands with a tomahawk, or such like weapon, which had sunk
into their skulls and brains; and in one of the corpses there
appeared a hole in his skull near the cut, which was supposed to be
with a tomahawk, which hole these deponents do believe to be a
bullet-hole. And these deponents, after taking as particular view
of the corpses as their melancholy condition would admit, they
buried them as decently as their circumstances would allow, and
returned home to Paxton,--the Alleghany Road to John Harris's,
thinking it dangerous to return the same way they went. And further
these deponents say not.
These same deponents, being legally qualified before me, James
Armstrong, one of his majesty's justices of the peace for the
county of Lancaster, have hereunto set their hands in testimony
thereof.
JAMES ARMSTRONG.
Alexander Armstrong, Thomas McKee, Francis Ellis, John Florster,
William Baskins, James Berry, John Watt, James Armstrong, David
Denny.
After the foregoing facts had been elicited, a regular Indian talk was
had upon the matter, when Shickallemy gave the following as a true
version of every thing connected with the massacre:--
BROTHER THE GOVERNOR:--
We have been all misinformed on both sides about the unhappy
accident. Musemeelin has certainly murdered the three white men
himself, and, upon the bare accusation of Neshaleeny's son, was
seized and made a prisoner. Our cousins, the Delaware Indians,
being then drunk, in particular Allumoppies, never examined things,
but made an innocent person prisoner, which gave a great deal of
disturbance among us. However, the two prisoners were sent, and by
the way, in going down the river, they stopped at the house of
James Berry. James told the young man, "I am sorry to see you in
such a condition; I have known you from a boy, and always loved
you." Then the young man seemed to be very much struck to the
heart, and said, "I have said nothing yet, but I will tell all; let
all the Indians come up, and the white people also; they shall hear
it;" and then told Musemeelin, in the presence of the people, "Now
I am going to die for your wickedness; you have killed all the
three white men. I never did intend to kill any of them." Then
Musemeelin, in anger, said, "It is true, I have killed them. I am a
man, you are a coward. It is a great satisfaction to me to have
killed them; I will die for joy for having killed a great rogue and
his companions." Upon which the young man was set at liberty by the
Indians.
We desire therefore our brother the governor will not insist to
have either of the two young men in prison or condemned to die; it
is not with Indians as with white people, to put people in prison
on suspicion or trifles. Indians must first be found guilty of a
cause; then judgment is given and immediately executed. We will
give you faithfully all the particulars, and at the ensuing treaty
entirely satisfy you; in the mean time, we desire that good
friendship and harmony continue, and that we may live long together
is the hearty desire of your brethren the Indians of the United Six
Nations present at Shamokin.
The following is what Shickcalamy declared to be the truth of the
story concerning the murder of John Armstrong, Woodworth Arnold,
and James Smith, from the beginning to the end, to wit:--
That Musemeelin owing some skins to John Armstrong, the said
Armstrong seized a horse of the said Musemeelin and a rifle-gun;
the gun was taken by James Smith, deceased. Some time last winter
Musemeelin met Armstrong on the river Juniata, and paid all but
twenty shillings, for which he offered a neck-belt in pawn to
Armstrong, and demanded his horse, and James Armstrong refused it,
and would not deliver up the horse, but enlarged the debt, as his
usual custom was; and after some quarrel the Indian went away in
great anger, without his horse, to his hunting-cabin. Some time
after this, Armstrong, with his two companions, on their way to
Ohio, passed by the said Musemeelin's hunting-cabin; his wife only
being at home, she demanded the horse of Armstrong, because he was
her proper goods, but did not get him. Armstrong had by this time
sold or lent the horse to James Berry. After Musemeelin came from
hunting, his wife told him that Armstrong was gone by, and that she
had demanded the horse of him, but did not get him; and, as is
thought, pressed him to pursue and take revenge of Armstrong. The
third day, in the morning, after James Armstrong was gone by,
Musemeelin said to the two young men that hunted with him, "Come,
let us go toward the Great Hills to hunt bears;" accordingly they
went all three in company. After they had gone a good way,
Musemeelin, who was foremost, was told by the two young men that
they were out of their course. "Come you along," said Musemeelin;
and they accordingly followed him till they came to the path that
leads to the Ohio. Then Musemeelin told them he had a good mind to
go and fetch his horse back from Armstrong, and desired the two
young men to come along. Accordingly they went. It was then almost
night, and they travelled till next morning. Musemeelin said, "Now
they are not far off. We will make ourselves black; then they will
be frightened, and will deliver up the horse immediately; and I
will tell Jack that if he don't give me the horse I will kill him;"
and when he said so, he laughed. The young men thought he joked, as
he used to do. They did not blacken themselves, but he did. When
the sun was above the trees, or about an hour high, they all came
to the fire, where they found James Smith sitting; and they also
sat down. Musemeelin asked where Jack was. Smith told him that he
was gone to clear the road a little. Musemeelin said he wanted to
speak with him, and went that way, and after he had gone a little
distance from the fire, he said something, and looked back
laughing, but, he having a thick throat, and his speech being very
bad, and their talking with Smith hindering them from understanding
what he said, they did not mind it. They being hungry, Smith told
them to kill some turtles, of which there were plenty, and they
would make some bread by-and-by, and would all eat together. While
they were talking, they heard a gun go off not far off, at which
time Woodworth Arnold was killed, as they learned afterward. Soon
after, Musemeelin came back and said, "Why did you not kill that
white man, according as I bid you? I have laid the other two down."
At this they were surprised; and one of the young men, commonly
called Jimmy, ran away to the river-side. Musemeelin said to the
other, "How will you do to kill Catawbas, if you cannot kill white
men? You cowards! I'll show you how you must do;" and then, taking
up the English axe that lay there, he struck it three times into
Smith's head before he died. Smith never stirred. Then he told the
young Indian to call the other, but he was so terrified he could
not call. Musemeelin then went and fetched him, and said that two
of the white men were killed, he must now go and kill the third;
then each of them would have killed one. But neither of them dared
venture to talk any thing about it. Then he pressed them to go
along with him; he went foremost. Then one of the young men told
the other, as they went along, "My friend, don't you kill any of
the white people, let him do what he will; I have not killed Smith;
he has done it himself; we have no need to do such a barbarous
thing." Musemeelin being then a good way before them, in a hurry,
they soon saw John Armstrong sitting upon an old log. Musemeelin
spoke to him and said, "Where is my horse?" Armstrong made answer
and said, "He will come by-and-by; you shall have him." "I want him
now," said Musemeelin. Armstrong answered, "You shall have him.
Come, let us go to that fire," (which was at some distance from the
place where Armstrong sat,) "and let us talk and smoke together."
"Go along, then," said Musemeelin. "I am coming," said Armstrong,
"do you go before, Musemeelin; do you go foremost." Armstrong
looked then like a dead man, and went toward the fire, and was
immediately shot in his back by Musemeelin, and fell. Musemeelin
then took his hatchet and struck it into Armstrong's head, and
said, "Give me my horse, I tell you." By this time one of the young
men had fled again that had gone away before, but he returned in a
short time. Musemeelin then told the young men they must not offer
to discover or tell a word about what had been done, for their
lives; but they must help him to bury Jack, and the other two were
to be thrown into the river. After that was done, Musemeelin
ordered them to load the horses and follow toward the hill, where
they intended to hide the goods. Accordingly they did; and, as they
were going, Musemeelin told them that, as there were a great many
Indians hunting about that place, if they should happen to meet
with any they must be killed to prevent betraying them. As they
went along, Musemeelin going before, the two young men agreed to
run away as soon as they could meet with any Indians, and not to
hurt anybody. They came to the desired place; the horses were
unloaded, and Musemeelin opened the bundles, and offered the two
young men each a parcel of goods. They told him that as they had
already sold their skins, and everybody knew they had nothing, they
would certainly be charged with a black action were they to bring
any goods to the town, and therefore would not accept of any, but
promised nevertheless not to betray him. "Now," says Musemeelin, "I
know what you were talking about when you stayed so far behind."
The two young men being in great danger of losing their lives--of
which they had been much afraid all that day--accepted of what he
offered to them, and the rest of the goods they put in a heap and
covered them from the rain, and then went to their hunting-cabin.
Musemeelin, unexpectedly finding two or three more Indians there,
laid down his goods, and said he had killed Jack Armstrong and
taken pay for his horse, and should any of them discover it, that
person he would likewise kill, but otherwise they might all take a
part of the goods. The young man called Jimmy went to Shamokin,
after Musemeelin was gone to bury the goods, with three more
Indians, with whom he had prevailed; one of them was Neshaleeny's
son, whom he had ordered to kill James Smith; but these Indians
would not have any of the goods. Some time after the young Indian
had been in Shamokin, it was whispered about that some of the
Delaware Indians had killed Armstrong and his men. A drunken Indian
came to one of the Tudolous houses at night and told the man of the
house that he could tell him a piece of bad news. "What is that?"
said the other. The drunken man said, "Some of our Delaware Indians
have killed Armstrong and his men, which if our chiefs should not
resent, and take them up, I will kill them myself, to prevent a
disturbance between us and the white people, our brethren." Next
morning Shickcalamy and some other Indians of the Delawares were
called to assist Allumoppies in council; when Shickcalamy and
Allumoppies got one of the Tudolous Indians to write a letter to
me, to desire me to come to Shamokin in all haste--that the Indians
were very much dissatisfied in mind. This letter was brought to my
house by four Delaware Indians, sent express; but I was then in
Philadelphia, and when I came home and found all particulars
mentioned in this letter, and that none of the Indians of the Six
Nations had been down, I did not care to meddle with Delaware
Indian affairs, and stayed at home till I received the governor's
orders to go, which was about two weeks after. Allumoppies was
advised by his council to employ a _conjuror_, or prophet, as
they call it, to find out the murderer. Accordingly he did, and
the Indians met. The _seer_, being busy all night, told them in
the morning to examine such and such a one that was present when
Armstrong was killed, naming the two young men. Musemeelin was
present. Accordingly, Allumoppies, Quitheyquent, and Thomas Green,
an Indian, went to him that had fled first, and examined him. He
told the whole story very freely. Then they went to the other, but
he would not say a word, and they went away and left him. The three
Indians returned to Shickcalamy and informed them of what discovery
they had made, when it was agreed to secure the murderers and
deliver them up to the white people. Then a great noise arose among
the Delaware Indians, and some were afraid of their lives and went
into the woods. Not one cared to meddle with Musemeelin and the
other that could not be prevailed on to discover any thing, because
of the resentment of their families; but they being pressed by
Shickcalamy's son to secure the murderers, otherwise they would be
cut off from the chain of friendship, four or five of the Delawares
made Musemeelin and the other young man prisoners, and tied them
both. They lay twenty-four hours, and none would venture to conduct
them down, because of the great division among the Delaware
Indians; and Allumoppies, in danger of being killed, fled to
Shickcalamy and begged his protection. At last Shickcalamy's son,
Jack, went to the Delawares,--most of them being drunk, as they had
been for several days,--and told them to deliver the prisoners to
Alexander Armstrong, and they were afraid to do it; they might
separate their heads from their bodies and lay them in the canoe,
and carry them to Alexander to roast and eat them; that would
satisfy his revenge, as he wants to eat Indians. They prevailed
with the said Jack to assist them; and accordingly he and his
brother, and some of the Delawares, went with two canoes and
carried them off.
Conrad Weiser, in a letter to a friend, dated Heidelberg, 1746,
adverts to an interesting incident which occurred at the conclusion
of this interview at Shamokin. He says, "Two years ago I was sent
by the governor to Shamokin, on account of the unhappy death of
John Armstrong, the Indian trader, (1744.) After I had performed my
errand, there was a feast prepared, to which the governor's
messengers were invited. There were about one hundred persons
present, to whom, after we had in great silence devoured a fat
bear, the eldest of the chiefs made a speech, in which he said,
that by a great misfortune three of the brethren, the white men,
had been killed by an Indian; that, nevertheless, the sun was not
set, (meaning there was no war;) it had only been somewhat darkened
by a small cloud, which was now done away. He that had done evil
was like to be punished, and the land remain in peace; therefore he
exhorted his people to thankfulness to God; and thereupon he began
to sing with an awful solemnity, but without expressing any words;
the others accompanying him with great earnestness of fervor, spoke
these words: 'Thanks, thanks be to thee, thou great Lord of the
world, in that thou hast again caused the sun to shine, and hast
dispersed the dark cloud! The Indians are thine.'"
Among the first settlers in Aughwick Valley was Captain Jack, certainly
one of the most noted characters of his day. He flourished about
Aughwick between 1750 and 1755, when, with two or three companions, he
went to the Juniata and built himself a cabin near a beautiful spring.
His sole pursuit, it would appear, was hunting and fishing; by which he
procured the means of subsistence for his family. There was a mystery
about him which no person ever succeeded in fathoming, and even his
companions never learned his history or his real name.
He was a man of almost Herculean proportions, with extremely swarthy
complexion. In fact, he was supposed by some to be a half-breed and by
others a quadroon. Colonel Armstrong, in a letter to the governor,
called him the "Half-Indian." The truth of it, however, is that he was
a white man, possessing a more than ordinary share of intelligence
for a backwoodsman, but his early history is altogether shrouded in
mystery. It appears that in the summer of 1752 Captain Jack and his
companions were on a fishing excursion. Returning late in the evening,
Jack found his cabin in ruins and his wife and two children murdered.
From that moment he became an altered man, quit the haunts of men,
and roamed the woods alone, sleeping in caves, hollow logs, or wherever
he could find a shelter. The loss of his family, no doubt, crazed him
for a time, as he did not appear among the settlers until the fall of
1753. In the interim, however, he was frequently seen, and, we may
add, frequently __, by the savages, but he studiously avoided all
intercourse with his fellow-men. If we may judge of his subsequent
career, there is every reason to believe that on the discovery of the
wrongs done him by the savages he made a vow to devote the balance of
his life to slaying Indians. If he did, right faithfully was his vow
kept, for his fame spread far and wide among the red-skins, and many a
one bit the dust by his trusty rifle and unerring aim. The settlers
about Aughwick, as well as those in Path Valley and along the river,
frequently found dead savages, some in a state of partial decay, and
others with their flesh stripped by the bald-eagles and their bones
bleaching in the sun on the spot where Jack's rifle had laid them low.
On one occasion Captain Jack had concealed himself in the woods by the
side of the Aughwick Path, where he lay in wait for a stray Indian.
Presently a painted warrior, with a red feather waving from his head
and his body bedizened with gewgaws recently purchased from a trader,
came down the path. A crack from Captain Jack's rifle, and the savage
bounded into the air and fell dead without a groan in the path. It
appears that three others were in company, but had tarried at a spring,
who, on hearing the discharge of the rifle, under the impression that
their companion had shot a deer or bear, gave a loud "whoop." Captain
Jack immediately loaded, and when the Indians came up to the dead body
Jack again shot, and killed a second one. The Indians then rushed into
the thicket, and one of them, getting a glimpse of Jack, shot at him,
but missed him. The wild hunter, seeing that the chances were
desperate, jumped out and engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter--the
fourth savage being only armed with a tomahawk. He soon despatched the
third one by beating his brains out with his rifle; but the fourth one,
an athletic fellow, grappled, and a long and bloody fight with knives
followed, and only ceased when both were exhausted by the loss of
blood. The Indian managed to get away, and left the Black Hunter the
victor on the field of battle. Weak and faint as Jack was, he scalped
the three savages, fixed their scalps upon bushes overhanging the path,
and then, without deigning to touch their gewgaws or their arms, he
managed to work his way to the settlement, where his wounds, consisting
of eight or ten stabs, were dressed. The settlers, then squatters,
cared little about the loss of the Indians, since they deemed it right
for Captain Jack to wreak his vengeance on any and every savage whom
chance should throw in his way; and so little did they care about the
proprietors knowing their whereabouts that no report of the case was
ever made to the government of this combat.
It is said that one night the family of an Irishman named Moore,
residing in Aughwick, was suddenly awakened by the report of a gun.
This unusual circumstance at such a late hour in the night caused them
to get up to discover the cause; and on opening the door they found a
dead Indian lying upon the very threshold. By the feeble light which
shone through the door they discovered the dim outline of the wild
hunter, who merely said "I have saved your lives," and then plunged
into the dark ravine and disappeared.
With an eye like the eagle, an aim that was unerring, daring intrepidity,
and a constitution that could brave the heat of summer as well as the
frosts of winter, he roamed the valley like an uncaged tiger, the most
formidable foe that ever crossed the red man's path. Various were the
plans and stratagems resorted to by the Indians to capture him, but
they all proved unavailing. He fought them upon their own ground, with
their own weapons, and against them adopted their own merciless and
savage mode of warfare. In stratagem he was an adept, and in the
skilful use of the rifle his superior probably did not exist in his
day and generation.
These qualifications not only made him a terror to the Indians, but
made him famous among the settlers, who for their own protection formed
a scout, or company of rangers, and tendered to Captain Jack the
command, which he accepted. This company was uniformed like Indians,
with hunting-shirts, leather leggings, and moccasins, and, as they were
not acting under sanction of government, styled themselves "Captain
Jack's Hunters." All the _hunting_ done, however, after securing
game to supply their wants, was probably confined to _hunting_
for scalps of Indians; and, as it was a penal offence then to occupy
the hunting-grounds of the Juniata Valley, much more so to shed the
blood of any of the savages, it is not likely that the _hunters_
ever furnished the Quaker proprietors with an official list of the
"killed and wounded." These exploits gave Captain Jack a number of
names or sobriquets in the absence of his real name; he was known as
the "Black Rifle," "Black Hunter," "Wild Hunter of the Juniata," &c. On
one occasion, with his band, he followed a party of marauding Indians
to the Conococheague, and put them to rout. This act reached the
authorities in Philadelphia, and Governor Hamilton granted him a sort
of irregular roving commission to hold in check the unfriendly Indians
of the frontier. With this authority he routed the savages from the
Cove and several other places, and the general fear he inspired among
them no doubt prevented a deal of mischief in the Juniata Valley.
Early in June, Captain Jack offered the services of himself and his
band of hunters to government to accompany Braddock on his expedition
against Fort Duquesne. His merits were explained to Braddock by George
Crogan, who said, "They are well armed, and are equally regardless of
heat or cold. They require no shelter for the night, _and ask no
pay_." This generous offer on the part of Captain Jack was not
accepted by Braddock, because, as he alleged, "the proffered services
were coupled with certain stipulations to which he could not consent."
What these stipulations were was not mentioned. It is presumed,
however, that Captain Jack wished his company to go as a volunteer
force, free from the restraints of a camp life which a rigid
disciplinarian like Braddock would be likely to adopt. Braddock had
already accepted the services of a company of Indians under George
Crogan, and, as he wished to gain laurels for himself and his troops by
achieving a victory over the French and Indians by open European
fighting, his own selfishness probably prompted him to refuse the
assistance of any more who adopted the skulking Indian mode of warfare.
He did not live, however, to discover his error. Hazzard, in his
Pennsylvania Register, in speaking of the non-acceptance of Captain
Jack's offer, says, "It was a great misfortune for Braddock that he
neglected to secure the services of such an auxiliary." Very true; for
such men as Jack's Hunters would never have suffered themselves to be
fired upon by an ambuscaded enemy or an enemy hid away in a ravine.
They would not have marched over the hill with drums beating and colors
flying, in pride and pomp, as if enjoying a victory not yet won; but
they would have had their scouts out, the enemy and his position known,
and the battle fought without any advantages on either side; and in
such an event it is more than probable that victory would have crowned
the expedition.
Of the final end of Captain Jack we have nothing definite. One account
says he went to the West; another that he died an old man in 1772,
having lived the life of a hermit after the end of the war of 1763. It
is said that his bones rest near the spring, at the base of the
mountain bearing his name; and this we are inclined to believe. The
early settlers of the neighborhood believed that Captain Jack came down
from the mountain every night at twelve o'clock to slake his thirst at
his favorite spring; and half a century ago we might readily have
produced the affidavits of twenty respectable men who had seen the
Black Hunter in the spirit roaming over the land that was his in the
flesh. The present generation, however, knows little about the wild
hunter. Still, though he sleeps the sleep that knows no waking, and no
human being who ever saw him is above the sod now, the towering
mountain, a hundred miles in length, bearing his name, will stand as an
indestructible monument to his memory until time shall be no more.
George Crogan figured extensively about Aughwick for many years, both
before and after Fort Shirley was built. He was an Irishman by birth,
and came to the colony probably as early as 1742, and soon after took
up the business of an Indian trader. At first he located at Harris's
trading-house, on the Susquehanna, and from thence moved over the river
into Cumberland county, some eight miles from his first place of abode.
From there he made excursions to Path Valley and Aughwick, and finally
to the Ohio River by way of the old Bedford trail. His long residence
among the Indians not only enabled him to study Indian character
thoroughly, but he acquired the language of both the Delaware and
Shawnee tribes, and was of great use to the proprietary government; but
we incline to the opinion that his services were illy requited.
His first letter, published in the Colonial Records, is dated "May y^e
26th, 1747," and is directed to Richard Peters. It was accompanied by a
letter from the Six Nations, some wampum, and a French scalp, taken
somewhere on Lake Erie.
In a letter from Governor Hamilton to Governor Hardy, dated 5th July,
1756, in speaking of Crogan, who was at one time suspected of being a
spy in the pay of the French, Hamilton says:--"There were many Indian
traders with Braddock--Crogan among others, who acted as a captain of
the Indians under a warrant from General Braddock, and I never heard of
any objections to his conduct in that capacity. For many years he had
been very largely concerned in the Ohio trade, was upon that river
frequently, and had a considerable influence among the Indians,
speaking the language of several nations, and being very liberal, or
rather profuse, in his gifts to them, which, with the losses he
sustained by the French, who seized great quantities of his goods, and
by not getting the debts due to him from the Indians, he became
bankrupt, and since has lived at a place called Aughwick, in the back
parts of this province, where he generally had a number of Indians with
him, for the maintenance of whom the province allowed him sums of money
from time to time, but not to his satisfaction. After this he went, by
my order, with these Indians, and joined General Braddock, who gave the
warrant I have mentioned. Since Braddock's defeat, he returned to
Aughwick, where he remained till an act of assembly was passed here
granting him a freedom from arrest for ten years. This was done that
the province might have the benefit of his knowledge of the woods and
his influence among the Indians; and immediately thereupon, while I was
last at York, a captain's commission was given to him, and he was
ordered to raise men for the defence of the western frontier, which
he did in a very expeditious manner, but not so frugally as the
commissioners for disposing of the public money thought he might have
done. He continued in the command of one of the companies he had
raised, and of Fort Shirley, on the western frontier, about three
months; during which time he sent, by my direction, Indian messengers
to the Ohio for intelligence, but never produced me any that was very
material; and, having a dispute with the commissioners about some
accounts between them, in which he thought himself ill-used, he
resigned his commission, and about a month ago informed me that he
had not received pay upon General Braddock's warrant, and desired my
recommendation to General Shirley; which I gave him, and he set off
directly for Albany; and I hear he is now at Onondago with Sir William
Johnston."
Crogan settled permanently in Aughwick in 1754, and built a stockade
fort, and must have been some kind of an agent among the Indians,
disbursing presents to them for the government. In December of that
year he wrote to Secretary Peters, stating the wants of his Indians,
and at the same time wrote to Governor Morris as follows:--
"_May it please your honor_:--
"I am Oblig^d to advertize the Inhabitance of Cumberland county in
y^r honour's Name, nott to barter or Sell Spiretus Liquers to the
Indians or any person to bring amongst them, to prevent y^e Indians
from Spending there Cloase, tho' I am oblig^d to give them a kag
Now and then my self for a frolick, but that is Atended with no
Expence to y^e Government, nor no bad consequences to y^e Indians
as I do itt butt onst a Month. I hope your honour will approve of
this Proceeding, as I have Don itt to Prevent ill consequences
atending y^e Indians if they should be Kept always Infleam^d with
Liquors."
In September, 1754, notwithstanding the precautions taken by the
government to conciliate the Indians by profuse presents, and
immediately after Conrad Weiser, the Indian interpreter, and Crogan,
had held a conference at Aughwick, which it was supposed had terminated
satisfactorily to all parties concerned, an Indian, named Israel, of
the Six Nations, after leaving the conference, perpetrated a brutal
murder in Tuscarora Valley. The following is Crogan's report of it to
government:--
_Aughwick, September 17, 1754._
_May it please Your Honor_:--
Since Mr. Weiser left this, an Indian of the Six Nations, named
Israel, killed one Joseph Cample, an Indian trader, at the house of
one Anthony Thompson, at the foot of the Tuscarora Valley, near
Parnall's Knob. As soon as I heard it I went down to Thompson's,
and took several of the chiefs of the Indians with me, when I met
William Maxwell, Esq. The Indian made his escape before I got
there. I took the qualification of the persons who were present at
the murder, and delivered them to Mr. Maxwell, to be sent to your
honor, with the speech made by the chiefs of the Indians on that
occasion, which I suppose your honor has received.
I have heard many accounts from Ohio since Mr. Weiser left this,
all of which agree that the French have received a reinforcement of
men and provision from Canada to the fort. An Indian returned
yesterday to this place whom I had sent to the fort for
intelligence; he confirms the above accounts, and further says
there were about sixty French Indians had come while he stayed
there, and that they expected better than two hundred more every
day. He says that the French design to send those Indians with some
French, in several parties, to annoy the back settlements, which
the French say will put a stop to any English forces marching out
this fall to attack them. This Indian likewise says that the French
will do their endeavor to have the half-king Scarrayooday, Captain
Montour, and myself, killed this fall. This Indian, I think, is to
be believed, if there can be any credit given to what an Indian
says. He presses me strongly to leave this place, and not live in
any of the back parts. The scheme of sending several parties to
annoy the back settlements seems so much like French policy that I
can't help thinking it true.
I hear from Colonel Innes that there certainly have been some
French Indians at the camp at Wills's Creek, who fired on the
sentry in the dead of the night. If the French prosecute this
scheme, I don't know what will become of the back parts of
Cumberland county, which is much exposed. The back parts of
Virginia and Maryland are covered by the English camp, so that most
of the inhabitants are safe.
I would have written to your honor before now on this head; I only
waited the return of this Indian messenger, whose account I really
think is to be depended on. The Indians here seem very uneasy at
their long stay, as they have heard nothing from the Governor of
Virginia nor of your honor since Mr. Weiser went away; nor do they
see the English making any preparations to attack the French, which
seems to give them a great deal of concern. I believe several of
the Indians will soon go to the Six Nation country, and then, I
suppose, the rest will be obliged to fall in with the French. If
this happens, then all the back settlements will be left to the
mercy of an outrageous enemy.
I beg your honor's pardon for mentioning the consequences which
must certainly attend the slow motion of the English government, as
they are well known to your honor, and I am sensible your honor had
done all in your power for the security of those parts. I hope as
soon as his honor, Governor Morris, is arrived, I shall hear what
is to be done with those Indians. I assure your honor it will not
be in my power to keep them together much longer.
I am your honor's most humble and most obedient servant,
GEO. CROGAN.
The Indian Israel was arrested, taken to Philadelphia, and tried, but,
in consequence of the critical situation of affairs, the French having
tampered with the Six Nations until they were wavering, he was let off,
returned to his tribe, and the matter smoothed over as best it could
under the circumstances.
The number of Indians under Crogan at Braddock's defeat was thirty; but
what part they performed on that eventful day was not recorded. That
Crogan and his Indians were of some service would appear from the fact
that the Assembly passed a law exempting him from arrests--for debt, it
is supposed--for ten years, and commissioning him a captain in the
colonial service.
The supposition that Crogan was a spy in the pay of the French was
based upon the idea that he was a Roman Catholic, inasmuch as he was
born in Dublin. His loyalty was first brought into question by Governor
Sharpe, in December, 1753, who wrote to Governor Hamilton, informing
him that the French knew every move for defence made in the colonies,
and asked his opinion of Crogan. In answer, Governor Hamilton said:--
I observe what you say of Mr. Crogan; and, though the several
matters of which you have received information carry in them a good
deal of suspicion, and it may be highly necessary to keep a
watchful eye upon him, yet I hope they will not turn out to be any
thing very material, or that will effect his faithfulness to the
trust reposed in him, which, at this time, is of great importance
and a very considerable one. At present I have no one to inquire of
as to the truth of the particulars mentioned in yours but Mr.
Peters, who assures me that Mr. Crogan has never been deemed a
Roman Catholic, nor does he believe that he is one, though he knows
not his education, which was in Dublin, nor his religious
profession.
Whatever Mr. Crogan's religious faith may have been, he paid much less
attention to it than he did to Indian affairs; and that he was deeply
devoted to the proprietary government is evident from his subsequent
career. To keep the Indians loyal, he advanced many presents to them,
as appears by Governor Morris's letter to Governor Hardy, for which he
never was reimbursed; and the company of Indians he commanded was
fitted out at his own expense; and it was the attempt to get what he
advanced on that occasion that led to his quarrel with the
commissioners and his resignation.
From Philadelphia he went to Onondago, in September, 1756, and soon
after was appointed deputy-agent of Indian affairs by Sir William
Johnston. On his arrival in Philadelphia, his appointment was announced
to the council by Governor Denny.
"The council, knowing Mr. Crogan's circumstances, was not a little
surprised at the appointment, and desired to see his credentials;"
which he produced, and again took an active part in Indian affairs.
After the French had evacuated Fort Duquesne, in 1758, Crogan resided
for a time in Fort Pitt. From there he went down the river, was taken
prisoner by the French, and taken to Detroit. From thence he returned
to New York, where he died in 1782.
On the 6th of October, 1754, the reigning chief of Aughwick, called
_Tanacharrisan_, or Half-King, died at Paxton. In communicating his
death to the governor, John Harris said:--
Those Indians that are here blame the French for his death, by
bewitching him, as they had a conjurer to inquire into the cause a
few days before he died; and it is his opinion, together with his
relations, that the French have been the cause of their great man's
death, by reason of his striking them lately; for which they seem
to threaten immediate revenge, and desire me to let it be known.
The loss of the Half-King must have been a severe affliction to his
tribe, for it appears by a letter of Crogan's that he was compelled to
"wipe away their tears to the amount of thirty pounds fourteen
shillings:"
Scarroyady[1] succeeded the Half-King in the administration of affairs
at Aughwick. He was a brave and powerful chief, and possessed the most
unbounded influence among the Indians. Governor Morris, in a speech,
previously approved by council, made to Scarroyady and some Indians
accompanying him, said:--
[1] As the Indians could not pronounce the letter _r_, it is
probable that the names having such letters in were bestowed
by the whites, or corrupted by them.
"Brethren:--For the encouragement of you and all who will join you
in the destruction of our enemies, I propose to give the following
bounties or rewards, viz.: for every male Indian prisoner above
twelve years old that shall be delivered at any of the government's
forts or towns, one hundred and fifty dollars.
"For every female Indian prisoner or male prisoner of twelve years
old and under, delivered as above, one hundred and thirty dollars.
"For the scalp of every male Indian of above twelve years old, one
hundred and thirty dollars.
"For the scalp of every Indian woman, fifty dollars."
Let this fixed price for scalps not stand upon the pages of history as
a stigma against the peaceable and non-resistant Quakers of the
province; for, at the time these bounties were offered, John and Thomas
Penn had abjured the habits, customs, and religion of that people.
Fort Shirley was built in Aughwick Valley in the fall of 1755, and the
winter following Crogan resigned his commission, after which the
command was given to Captain Hugh Mercer.
Tradition says that one or two very serious battles were fought in
Aughwick, after Fort Shirley was erected; but the accounts of them are
so vague that we can give nothing like reliable information touching
them.
In January, 1756, two Indians named Lackin, brothers, who professed to
be friendly, came to what was then still called Crogan's Fort. The
commander of the fort made them some few trifling presents, and plied
them well with rum, when they promised to bring in a large number of
prisoners and scalps. On leaving the fort, they fell in with a soldier,
whom they invited to accompany them a short distance and they would
give him some rum. To this the soldier assented, and, after getting out
of sight of the fort, one of them suddenly turned and stabbed the
soldier in the side with a scalping-knife. A man passing at the time of
the occurrence immediately alarmed the garrison, and a posse of
thirteen men sallied out; but when they came up near the Indians the
latter suddenly turned and fired upon the soldiers, wounding one of
them in the thigh. The savages were then surrounded, and one of them
shot; the other they attempted to take to the fort alive, but he acted
so outrageously that one of the soldiers beat his brains out with the
stock of his musket. The Lackins were rather worthless fellows, and it
required no wampum, or even coin, to dry up the tears of their friends.
Fort Shirley was abandoned for a while after the burning of Fort
Granville, by order of Governor Morris, but the importance of the point
prevented it from standing idle long. We hear of some few murders
committed near the Three Springs of the valley at a later day, but no
attack was made in the neighborhood during the second Indian war, as
the entire valley was well protected by the friendly Indians of the Six
Nations.
The Delawares and Shawnees, or at least a great portion of them, left
the valley in 1754-55-56, and before 1761 all had disappeared. But to
the friendly Indian the beautiful Aughwick was a favorite haunt until
the Anglo-Saxon fairly ploughed and harrowed him out of his home and
his hunting-grounds. The last of the Six Nations left Aughwick for
Cattaraugus in 1771.