WARRIOR RIDGE--WARRIOR'S MARK--JOB CHILLAWAY, SHANEY JOHN, AND CAPTAIN
LOGAN, THE LAST RED MEN IN THE JUNIATA VALLEY.
Warrior Ridge, between Alexandria and Huntingdon, derives its name from
an Indian path which ran along the summit of it. The Pulpit Rocks, not
unlike the altars of the Druids, shaped into fantastic forms by the
hand of nature, as well as the wild romantic scenery around them, at
once suggest the idea of a place of meeting of the warriors,--a spot
where the councils of the brave were held, with the greensward of the
mountain for a carpet and the blue vault of heaven for a canopy. Were
we not so well aware of the fact that the Indians preferred the
lowlands of the valleys for places of abode, we could almost fancy the
neighborhood of Pulpit Rocks to have been a glorious abiding-place; but
of the occurrences and events that took place on the ridge we are in
hopeless ignorance. Had some Indian historian of an early day
transmitted to posterity, either by written or oral tradition, one-half
the events of Warrior Ridge, we might add considerable interest to
these pages; but as it is, we must content ourself, if not our readers,
with this brief notice of the famous Warrior Ridge.
Warrior's Mark was another celebrated place for the Indians. It lies
upon a flat piece of table-land, and is just the kind of a place where
savages would be likely to meet to debate measures of great importance
and to concoct schemes for their future movements. The name of the
place originated from the fact of certain oak-trees in the vicinity
having a crescent or half-moon cut upon them with hatchets, so deep
that traces can still be seen of them, or, at least, could be some
years ago. The signification of them was known to the Indians alone;
but it is evident that some meaning was attached to them, for, during
the Revolution, every time a band of savages came into the valley one
or more fresh warrior marks were put upon the trees. The Indian town
stood upon the highway or path leading from Kittaning, through Penn's
Valley, to the Susquehanna. It was still considerable of a village when
the white men first settled in the neighborhood, but immediately on the
breaking out of the Revolution the Indians destroyed it, and moved to
Ohio, and at this day there is not a trace of its existence left.
The first white settlers in Warrior's Mark were the Ricketts family.
They were all wild, roving fellows, who loved the woods better than
civilization; and their whole occupation, over and above tilling a very
small patch of land, appeared to be hunting for wild game. Their
arrival was followed by two or three other families; and when the
Indian troubles commenced, the house of Ricketts was converted into a
fortress, and the men turned their attention to protecting the
frontier. One of them--Captain Elijah Ricketts--became quite an active
and prominent man.
We have no record of any murder ever having been committed in the
immediate vicinity of Warrior's Mark. Several captives were taken from
thence, either in 1777 or 1778, but were exchanged and found their way
back; we are, however, without particulars, either as to their names,
capture, or release.
The three last Indians in the valley were Job Chillaway, a Delaware,
Shaney John, a Mingo, and Captain Logan, a Cayuga. They were all
friendly to the whites, and served the cause of liberty in the capacity
of spies.
Job Chillaway is represented by the late E. Bell, Esq., in his MS., as
a tall, muscular man, with his ears cut so as to hang pendant like a
pair of ear-rings. He was employed as early as 1759 by the Colonial
Government as a spy, and his name is frequently mentioned in the
archives. Levi Trump, in writing to Governor Denny, from Fort Augusta,
on April 8, 1759, when the French were using their most powerful
exertions to swerve the Six Nations from their fealty to the colony,
says:--
Job Chillaway, a Delaware Indian, arrived here on the 5th inst.,
and brought with him a message from a grand council of the Six
Nations held near Onondaga, to King Teedyuscung, informing him that
deputies from said council would soon be at Wyoming. On what errand
they did not say; but Job says he thinks it his duty to inform his
brothers what he knows of the affair:--that he was present at the
opening of this council; which was by four chiefs, of different
nations, singing the war-song and handing round an uncommonly large
war-belt; that one of them, after some time, said: "What shall we
do? Here is a hatchet from our fathers, to strike our brothers; and
here is another from our brothers, to strike our fathers. I believe
'twill be best for us to do as we have done heretofore; that is,
cast them both away."
In 1763, Chillaway still remained loyal to the colony, although nearly
all of his tribe had taken up the hatchet against the English. Colonel
James Irvine, under date of November 23, 1763, writes from "Ensign
Kerns," near Fort Allen, to John Penn, as follows:--
SIR:--On the 16th instant Job Chillaway arrived here, being sent by
Papunchay[6] to inform us that he and about twenty-five Indians
(women and children included) were on their way from Weyalusing.
The day after Job's arrival he delivered a string of wampum, and
the following message in behalf of himself, Papunchay, John Curtis,
&c., which he desired might be transmitted to your honor, viz.:
[6] Papunchay was the chief of the last of the Delaware
warriors who remained loyal,--the great body having, by 1763,
gone over to the French.
"BROTHER:--
"We are very glad that you have taken pity on us, according to the
promises you made us since we had any correspondence together.
"Brother,--We are glad to hear you have pointed out two ways to
us,--one to our brother, Sir William Johnson, the other to you. Our
hearts incline toward you, the Governor of Philadelphia.
"Brother,--Take pity on us, and keep the road open, that we may
pass without being hurt by your young men.
"Brother,--Point out the place where you intend to settle us, and
we shall be glad, let that be where it will."
Job informed us that there were fifteen Muncy warriors, who, for
three nights before he left Papunchay, encamped close by their
encampment. How far they intended to proceed, or what were their
intentions, he could not find out. As it was expected that
Papunchay was near the frontiers, Colonel Clayton marched with
fifty men, (mostly volunteers,) on the 20th inst., with Job
Chillaway, in hopes of surprising the warriors. We were out three
days without discovering either them or Papunchay. What hath
detained the latter we know not. Job hath desired me to wait for
them at this place a few days longer. On their arrival here, I
purpose to conduct them to Philadelphia, unless I receive orders to
the contrary from your honor.
Whether Papunchay continued loyal after 1763 is not known; but
Chillaway was a spy, in the employ of Asher Clayton, at Lehigh Gap, as
late as May, 1764.
About 1768, he made his way to the Juniata Valley. He first located
near the mouth of the Little Juniata; but as soon as settlements were
made by the whites he went up Spruce Creek; but there, too, the
footprints of the white invader were soon seen, and he removed to the
mountain, where hunting was good. He continued for many years after the
Revolution to bring venison down into the settlements to trade off for
flour and bread. In his old age he exhibited a passion for strong
drink, and by the white man's baneful _fire-water_ he fell. He was
found dead in his cabin, by some hunters, about the close of the last
century.
Of Shaney John not much is known. He came to the valley probably about
the same time Chillaway did, and the two were boon-companions for many
years. Shaney John moved to the Indian town called the Bald Eagle's
Nest, nearly opposite Milesburg, Centre county, where he died.
The most prominent friendly Indian that ever resided in the valley,
however, was Captain Logan. This, of course, was not his proper name,
but a title bestowed upon him by the settlers. He is represented as
having been a noble and honorable Indian, warm in his attachment to a
friend, but, like all Indians, revengeful in his character. A kindness
and an insult alike remained indelibly stamped upon the book and page
of his memory; and to make a suitable return for the former he would
have laid down his life--shed the last drop of his heart's blood. He
was a man of medium height and heavy frame; notwithstanding which he
was fleet of foot and ever on the move.
He came to the valley before Chillaway did, and settled with his family
in the little valley east of Martin Bell's Furnace, which is still
known as Logan's Valley. He had previously resided on the Susquehanna,
where he was the captain of a brave band of warriors; but,
unfortunately, in some engagement with another tribe, he had an eye
destroyed by an arrow from the enemy. This was considered a mark of
disgrace, and he was deposed; and it was owing to that cause that he
abandoned his tribe and took up his residence in the Juniata Valley.
One day, while hunting, he happened to pass the beautiful spring near
the mouth of the Bald Eagle--now in the heart of Tyrone City. The
favorable location for both hunting and fishing, as well as the
charming scenery, fascinated Logan; and he built himself a wigwam,
immediately above the spring, to which he removed his family.
Here he lived during the Revolutionary war, not altogether inactive,
for his sympathies were on the side of liberty. During that time he
formed a strong attachment to Captain Ricketts, of Warrior's Mark, and
they became fast friends. It was to Ricketts that Captain Logan first
disclosed the plot of the tories under John Weston; and Edward Bell
gave it as his firm conviction that Logan was among the Indians who
shot down Weston and his men on their arrival at Kittaning.
Although Logan had learned to read from the Moravian missionaries when
quite a lad, he knew very little of the formula of land purchases; so
he failed to make a regular purchase of the spot on which his cabin
stood, the consequence of which was that, after the war, some envious
white man bought the land and warned the friendly savage off. Logan was
too proud and haughty to contest the matter, or even bandy words with
the intruder; so he left, and located at Chickalacamoose, where
Clearfield now stands, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna.
Captain Logan continued visiting the valley, and especially when any of
his friends among the pioneers died. On such occasions he generally
discarded his red and blue eagle-feathers, and appeared in a plain suit
of citizens' clothes.
But at length Logan came no more. The Great Spirit called him to a
happier hunting-ground; and all that is mortal of him--unless his
remains have been ruthlessly torn from the bosom of mother earth--lies
beneath the sod, near the mouth of Chickalacamoose Creek.
It is to be regretted that more of his history has not been preserved,
for, according to all accounts of him, he possessed many noble traits
of character. Unlike Logan the Mingo chief, Captain Logan the Cayuga
chief had no biographer like Thomas Jefferson to embellish the pages of
history with his eloquence. Well may we say, "The evil that men do
lives after them, while the good is oft interred with their bones."