the Indians refused it, saying they liked him and wanted to make him one
of their tribe. Boone returned with them, always conducting himself in a
cheerful manner. He was adopted in the tribe as a son of Chief
Blackfish.
One evening he learned the Indians planned an attack on Boonesborough.
He hid food in his shirt and at daybreak started on a hunting trip.
Covering his trail, he set out for home, walking day and night, eating
few meals during the 160 miles through the woods.
When he arrived he found his wife, believing him dead, had returned to
her father’s home. He assembled his sixty men and prepared for the
attack of 400 Indians.
The attack was made, British and Canadians being among the savages under
Chief Blackfish. A parley of two days was agreed to, but Boone used the
time to better protect the fort.
After a fierce fight lasting nine days the Indians gave up and started
home, leaving behind thirty-seven dead and many wounded. Boone lost two
men and had four wounded.
In 1780 Squire Boone was killed and Daniel had a narrow escape from
capture.
In 1782 Boone was commissioned a lieutenant colonel. One of his sons was
killed and the other wounded.
Kentucky was admitted as a State February 4, 1791. Boone’s restless
spirit then moved him westward and in 1795 he settled in Missouri. He
died September 26, 1820, and his body was buried beside his wife, who
had died seven years before.
In 1845 Boone’s remains were re-interred near Frankfort, Ky.
----------
General Sir Guy Carleton Puts End to
Indian War October 23, 1782
After the murder of Colonel William Crawford, which occurred June, 1782,
about five miles west of Upper Sandusky, the Scots and other
frontiersmen were saddened but far from being discouraged.
The fugitives of the ill-fated expedition to the Sandusky had hardly
returned to their homes along the western frontier of Pennsylvania when
they began preparations for another expedition.
The borderers possessed a fierce determination to crush out the “red
vipers” and one more trip into the Indian country soon as harvest was
gathered was but an incident in their exciting life.
General William Irvine, the commandant at Fort Pitt, was urged to
command, and principal men of that vicinity agreed to furnish the
provisions, not only for the volunteers but for the regular troops.
The General determined to lead the expedition if he should be satisfied
with its size and equipment. Men who were too aged for service agreed to
furnish the horses and provisions.
It was intended to start early in August, but the summer had been so dry
that the mills could not grind until the water was sufficient, so a
postponement was announced until September 20.
General Irvine kept the State Government advised of the preparations on
the frontier and at the same time intimated that State and Congress
would materially assist in the enterprise.
After a conference between members of Congress and the Supreme Executive
Council a recommendation was made, September 1, 1782, to General
Washington that the General Government should aid in this campaign
against the savages. It was an opportune moment as operations in the
East were quiet and peace was soon expected with Great Britain.
General Washington agreed that three expeditions should penetrate the
Indian country, each to be composed of regulars, militia and volunteers,
and Congress voted to bear the expenses of the regular troops.
Brigadier General Irvine was to command in person the expedition which
would move from Fort Pitt against the Wyandot and Delaware on the
Sandusky River; Major General James Potter, of Northumberland County,
was to advance from Sunbury into the Seneca land, in the Genesee Valley
of New York State, and a third expedition was to be sent by the State of
New York against the Eastern Iroquois in the vicinity of Oswego.
Two companies of militia, one from York and the other from Cumberland
County, were sent to Westmoreland to guard its settlements while its own
men were absent in the Indian country.
Detachments of Colonel Moses Hazen’s “Canadian Regiment” stationed at
Lancaster and Carlisle were ordered to march to Fort Pitt and there join
General Irvine, who had at that post two companies of the Eighth
Pennsylvania regiment, commanded by Captains Samuel Brady and John
Clark.
General Lincoln, Secretary of War, proposed that General Irvine’s force
should aggregate 1200 men and set October 8 as the date to begin the
campaign, and assured General Irvine that the additional troops would be
there by that time.
While preparations were being made the Indians struck a blow against the
border. Early in September, Captain Andrew Bradt and forty Canadian
Rangers and 238 Indians, Wyandot, Delaware and Shawnee, set out from
Upper Sandusky to attack Wheeling.
Fort Henry, at that place, was defended by twenty-seven men, only
eighteen of whom were fit for duty. One swivel gun, which had been
discarded by the French and thrown into the river when Fort Duquesne was
evacuated in 1758, had been recovered by the pioneers and again set up.
All the inhabitants of that neighborhood flocked to the stockade on the
news of the approach of the enemy. Colonel Ebenezer Zane was in command
of the garrison.
Captain Bradt’s force crossed the Ohio and paraded in front of Fort
Henry in the evening of Wednesday, September 11. The captain displayed
the British flag and demanded a surrender, which was promptly rejected,
and soon firing was opened on the fort from long range.
At midnight the savages attempted to carry the fort by storm, but were
repulsed. The French swivel gun proved to be more than a relic and
rendered a good account of itself, and especially as the Indians were
much afraid of any sort of cannon.
Two more attempts to gain by storm were made before daybreak, and both
proved futile. The enemy, however, kept up a steady fire during the day.
Captain Bradt sent a Negro to the fort with a second demand for
surrender, and during Thursday night a fourth desperate attempt to take
the fort by storm was made.
Again the brave riflemen repulsed the savage horde and broke their
spirit, and they retired and recrossed the Ohio. Only one defender was
wounded in the foot.
After the failure to invest Wheeling, seventy of the Indians who cut
loose from the main force and went for scalps and plunder, attacked the
blockhouse of Abraham Rice, on Buffalo Creek, within the present Donegal
Township, Washington County.
Six men in that blockhouse successfully defended it from 2 o’clock in
the afternoon of September 13 until 2 o’clock the following morning.
They killed four Indians and lost one of their own number, George
Felebaum, who was shot in the brain while looking through a loophole.
The savages killed many cattle and burned the barn. On their return
toward the Ohio they met and killed two settlers who were going to the
relief of Rice’s blockhouse. This was the last invasion of Western
Pennsylvania by a large body of Indians.
While General Irvine was impatient that Hazen’s regulars did not arrive,
on October 23, he received word from Philadelphia that the Indian war
was at an end and that his expedition was countermanded.
To the credit of General Sir Guy Carleton is due the cessation of the
Indian depredations. Soon after his appointment he was shocked by the
cruel burning of Colonel William Crawford and other American prisoners,
and he immediately put an end to the six years of terrible savage
butchery.
General Washington learned of General Carleton’s action September 23,
when he directed the authorities in Philadelphia to stop General Potter
at Sunbury from marching to Fort Pitt.
On September 27 General Lincoln ordered Generals Hazen and Irvine to
call off the expedition. The former immediately returned with his
command to Lancaster. The letter to General Irvine was not promptly
delivered and Captain Samuel Brady found the bearer at a wayside inn,
and he hurried the intelligence to General Irvine too late.
But in the autumn of 1782, the sorely harried frontiersmen were
encouraged to believe their distresses were at an end, and with much joy
they were able to participate in the first general Thanksgiving Day
celebrated in the United States on the last Thursday of November.
----------
Susquehanna River First Explored by
Etienne Brulé in October, 1615
Two great waters south of Pennsylvania admit ships from Europe, and by
them white men came. Their first approach was up the Chesapeake.
Captain John Smith sailed from the colony of Jamestown, Va., July 24,
1608, on an exploring expedition, and his little craft, bearing thirteen
souls, was propelled with sail and oar. Even with such a vessel he
experienced some danger and suffered privations, before he pushed as far
up the “northwest branch” as he could. This, of course, was the
Susquehanna River.
Captain Smith first saw the Susquehanna Indians, and he is the one
explorer who has given us a fine account of the country he visited and
the people he met.
Twelve months after Captain Smith’s visit to the head of the Chesapeake,
Henry Hudson, in the “Half Moon,” sailed along the Atlantic Coast and
discovered the existence of the Delaware Bay, on August 28, 1609.
But neither Captain John Smith nor Henry Hudson entered Pennsylvania.
They approached or reached the open doorway, but it is not certain
either came inside. The first actual visit of a white man was not made
until six years after Hudson’s call at the Capes.
The first exploration of the Susquehanna River for its entire length was
made in the fall, winter and spring of 1615–16 by Etienne (Stephen)
Brulé, a Frenchman in the employ of Samuel Champlain, the first Governor
of New France. He entered Pennsylvania via the North Branch the latter
part of October, 1615.
A narrative of Brulé's explorations is given by John G. Shea and is to
the effect that Brulé crossed from Lake Ontario to the headwaters of the
Susquehanna, descended the North Branch, and furnished the Jesuit
Fathers with the earliest information we have of the aborigines of that
section.
The glowing description which Brulé gave of these Neuters led Father de
la Roche Daillon to visit them. Brulé must have been among these Indians
as early as 1610, and perhaps earlier. He was one of the first Europeans
ever to visit the Huron country and acquire a knowledge of their
language.
Brulé was a dauntless woodsman, interpreter and guide and seems to have
possessed the requisite quantity of genuine bravado to have done the
things with which he is credited.
September 8, 1615, when Champlain was preparing to join the Huron in
their expedition against their ancient enemies, the Iroquois, Brulé set
out with a party of twelve Huron from Upper Canada for the town of
Carantouan on the Susquehanna, to obtain their co-operation against the
common enemy. The Indians formed part of the confederacy known later as
the Andastes.
Brulé, with his little band of Huron, crossed from Lake Ontario to the
Susquehanna, defeated on the way a war-party of Iroquois and entered
Carantouan in triumph.
This was that tribe’s principal town and was palisaded. From this town
they could send out 800 warriors, which would indicate a total
population of 4000 souls. Brulé obtained here a force of 500 Carantouan,
and they set out to join Champlain and the Huron; but as they proceeded
slowly, they reached the Iroquoian town only to find that Champlain had
attacked it with his force, had failed, had himself been wounded, and
had returned to Canada.
Brulé and his allies returned to Carantouan, and here Brulé remained the
rest of the autumn and winter, “for lack of company and escort home.”
While thus waiting Brulé explored the country and visited tribes
adjacent to that region. He explored along the river “that debouches in
the direction of Florida,” and left the neighborhood of Oneida, N. Y.,
in the fall of 1615, and descended the Susquehanna River to at least the
present Pennsylvania-Maryland boundary. This is evidenced by the fact
that in the report of his journey he refers to meeting with tribes who
complained of the harshness of the Dutch.
Certainly these early settlers had not gone far from the mouth of the
great rivers at this early date, even to explore the country. He
reported many warlike nations carrying on wars against each other; the
climate as very temperate, and great numbers of animals and an abundance
of small game.
He continued his course “along the river as far as the sea, and to
islands and lands near them, which are inhabited by various tribes and
large numbers of savages, who are well disposed and love the French
above all nations. But those who know the Dutch complain severely of
them, since they treat them roughly.”
When he attempted to rejoin his countrymen, his party was attacked and
scattered by the Iroquois and Brulé, losing his way, entered an Iroquois
village. He tried to convince them that he was not of the same nation of
whites who had just been attacking them, but the savages fell upon him,
tore out his nails and beard and began to burn him in different parts of
the body.
He was far from being an exemplary character, but wore an Agnus Dei, and
when the Indians went to tear this from his neck he threatened them with
the vengeance of heaven. Just then a terrible thunderstorm came up, his
tormentors fled in all directions and the chief of the tribe released
Brulé.
After this he spent some time with them. They escorted him on a four
days’ journey to visit the Huron tribe on Lake Huron.
He found Champlain in 1618, and made his report to him. It was
apparently on this return trip that he passed through the territory of
the Neuters, as it would be his safest course.
It may be well to record here the ultimate fate of this intrepid
adventurer. In 1623 he was in Quebec, where he was sent to meet and
bring down the Huron coming to trade. He returned with them, leading a
very dissolute life among the Indians.
Sagard, in his “History of Canada,” says when Kirk took Quebec Brulé
deserted the French and went over to the English. He was sent up to the
Huron, in 1629, in the interest of the English, notwithstanding the
bitter reproaches of his old commander, Champlain. Sagard further states
that the traitorous conduct of Brulé provoked the Huron, who put him to
death and devoured him.
The Jesuits do not mention this fate, but intimate that he met his death
at the town of Toanchain, about one mile from Thunder Bay.
Such was the fate of the man who was the first to cross from Lake
Ontario to the Susquehanna and pass from the villages of the Iroquois
through neutral country to the shores of Lake Huron. Certainly he was
the first European to discover the picturesque beauty of the great
Susquehanna River.
----------
John Harris, Who Laid Out Harrisburg,
Had Narrow Escape, October 25, 1755
John Harris, Sr., built his log house on the bank of the Susquehanna
River where the City of Harrisburg now stands in the year of 1705. This
building was subsequently stockaded and became known as Fort Harris.
Harris was especially an Indian trader, but engaged largely in
agriculture. It is said of him that he was the first person to use a
plow on the Susquehanna, and moreover, that “he was as honest a man as
ever broke bread.”
The elder Harris was born in the County of Yorkshire, England, of Welsh
parents, in the year 1673, and was brought up in the trade of his
father, that of a brewer. He was of middle age when he emigrated to
America and located in Philadelphia, where he became a contractor for
cleaning and grading the streets of the city. He married Esther Say, an
English lady, who possessed a remarkable personality and was noted for
her extraordinary energy and learning.
In January, 1705, John Harris was given a license to “seat himself on
the Susquehanna, and to erect such buildings as are necessary for his
trade, and to enclose and improve such quantities of land as he shall
think fit.”
He tarried at Conewago awhile, but soon learned of the beauty and
superior advantages of Paxtang, and that the best fording-place on the
Susquehanna was near there, so he removed and, immediately upon his
arrival, commenced the erection of a home and storehouse, which were
subsequently to figure so conspicuously in the pioneer history of the
young Province.
In connection with his farming he established a ferry which became known
throughout the entire Eastern section of the United States.
Miss Wharton, in her delightful story, “In Old Pennsylvania Towns,”
refers to the elder Harris as follows:
“John Harris is said to have lived on fairly good terms with the
surrounding Indians, but one thrilling experience of his is among the
cherished traditions of Harrisburg.
“It seems that a band of roving Indians from the Carolinas halted at his
trading post to exchange their goods probably for rum, of which the
savages already had too much. They became riotous in their drunken
revelry and, demanding more rum, were refused by Mr. Harris, who began
to fear harm from his visitors.
“Not to be denied they again demanded ‘Lum’ and, seizing him, they took
him to a mulberry tree near by and bound him to it, intending to burn
him after they had helped themselves to his stores.
“Before the savages were able to carry out their evil designs, some
friendly Indians arrived on the scene, having been warned of the danger
of his master by Hercules, a faithful colored servant of Mr. Harris. It
is said that these friendly Indians had come to the rescue of Mr. Harris
in consequence of some act of kindness which they had received from him.
“The grave of Mr. Harris may be seen in the river bank opposite the
Cameron house and is now inclosed by a railing. He is buried under the
mulberry tree to which he had once been bound, and at his feet rest the
remains of the faithful Hercules, who had saved his master’s life.
“There are men living in Harrisburg who remember the stump of the
historic mulberry tree which residents of Harrisburg preserved for years
by applying cement and plaster and later a shoot from the original tree
flourished and bore fruit to which children strolling along the river
bank would stop and help themselves.”
He died in 1748, and was succeeded by his son, who was born in the
original Harris home, or Fort Harris, in 1727.
He was the first white child born in Pennsylvania west of the Conewago
hills. He was carried to Philadelphia by his mother for the purpose of
being baptized, and according to the parish register of Christ Church,
in Philadelphia, this event was duly solemnized September 22, 1728, his
age at that time being eleven months.
When only a young man, John Harris, Jr., was occasionally employed by
the Province of Pennsylvania to transact important business with the
Indians at critical periods.
His house was frequently visited by the aborigines, and several very
important conferences were held there between the several tribes of
Indians on the Susquehanna, Ohio, etc., and the Provincial Government of
Pennsylvania.
Under the will of his father he became possessed of 700 acres of land,
on a part of which he later laid out the city of Harrisburg.
John Harris, Jr., was an energetic and an extensive farmer and an Indian
trader, who enjoyed the confidence of the Indians to an unusual degree.
His ferry became the most prominent place along the frontier.
Prior to 1754, he had been sent on an Indian mission to Ohio, and at the
same time to notice the practical route from his ferry to Logstown. He
performed his errand satisfactorily.
Having accepted an Indian agency he was faithful to his charge, both to
the Indians and the Provincial Government. The latter was kept
constantly advised of happenings among the frontier settlements, for at
this time many of the Ohio Indians had already taken up the hatchet
against the English.
He frequently visited the Indians at Shamokin (now Sunbury), and when
the French and Indians had committed atrocious murders upon the frontier
inhabitants he, aided by others, rushed to their rescue and often buried
the bodies of the slain.
These missions were frequently carried out under great hardship and
danger. The most serious experience in the life of John Harris occurred
October 25, 1755, when the party he was leading from Shamokin was
attacked near Mahanoy Creek by Indians lying in ambush and four of his
party were killed and four drowned. The person riding on the same horse
with Harris was shot and killed, and a moment later the horse was killed
and Harris compelled to flee for safety by swimming the river.
John Harris was a sincere patriot. When the independence of the colonies
was being agitated he thought it premature, fearing that the colonies
were unequal to the task of combating with Great Britain, but when
independence was declared, he advanced £3000 to carry on the contest.
He was a man of keen foresight. He understood the natural advantages of
Harris’ Ferry, and twenty years before he laid out the town, he observed
that it would be a place of business and the seat of the government of
Pennsylvania.
When he laid out Harrisburg in 1785, he conveyed, with other property,
four acres on Capitol Hill, east of the present State buildings, for
public use.
After a life of usefulness, he closed his eventful career, July 29,
1791, and his remains rest in the old Paxton Presbyterian Church
graveyard alongside of the illustrious fellow-patriot, William Maclay,
whose daughter was his loving and devoted wife.
----------
Fail to End Warfare Through Treaty at
Albany, October 26, 1745
During the minority of Richard and Thomas Penn the Proprietary Land
Office had been closed from 1718 to 1732, and many immigrants seated
themselves without title on such vacant lands as suited their
convenience.
The number of such immigrants entitled them to great consideration.
Their rights accruing by priority of settlement were recognized by the
public and passed, together with their improvements, through many hands,
in confidence that they would receive proprietary sanction.
Much agitation was produced when the Provincial proclamation required
all who had not obtained and paid for warrants to pay to the Receiver
General, within four months, the sums due for their lands, under penalty
of ejectment. As a consequence many and great difficulties arose. The
Assembly sought to compromise the matter by postponement of payment of
the purchase money for several years.
Great Britain and Spain declared war October 23, 1739, and the old
troubles between the Governor and Assembly again appeared to disturb the
peace of the Government. The Assembly refused to support England with
money or troops and Governor Thomas was compelled to raise
Pennsylvania’s quota of 400 men by his own exertion. This he
accomplished in three months, but many of his recruits were
bond-servants willing to exchange their service and freedom dues for
nominal liberty and soldier’s pay.
In March, 1744, hostilities were openly declared between Great Britain
and France. The peaceful era in the Province was now at an end, and the
dark cloud of the cruel savage warfare began to gather on the western
frontier.
The lands acquired by the infamous “Indian Walk,” and those of the
Shawnee, which were purchased without their consent, were now to be paid
for by the blood of the settlers.
The Delaware Indians refused to leave the forks of the Delaware, even
though the “walk” had determined these lands belonged to the
Proprietary. The Six Nations were called upon to order off the Delaware,
which they did in an overbearing manner. The Delaware retired to Wyoming
Valley and the forks of the Susquehanna, at Shamokin, with this
additional wrong done them rankling in their breasts.
Franklin published his “Plain Truth” in an endeavor to conciliate the
Assembly and the Governor and awaken them both to the importance of
military preparations. Franklin was appointed a Colonel, but declined.
He preferred to wield the pen, with which he could be of far greater
influence to the province. James Logan justified defensive war and
assisted with his means.
Defenses were erected below the City of Philadelphia from funds raised
for the purpose by means of a public lottery, in which many Quakers
sowed a seed, trusting it would bring forth an hundredfold.