FOOTNOTES
[1] Pennsylvania Colonial Records, viii, p. 132; Pennsylvania Archives, iii, pp. 412-422.
[2] Journal of this journey in Pennsylvania Colonial Records, viii, pp. 142-145.
[3] Pennsylvania Colonial Records, viii, p. 147.
[4] Pennsylvania Archives, iii, pp. 556, 557.
[5] Pennsylvania Colonial Records, viii, pp. 341, 419, 463, 466, 469, 491; Pennsylvania Archives, iii, pp. 581, 582, 689, 702, 703.
[6] All Indians are excessive fond of rum, and will be drunk whenever they can get it.—[Charles Thomson?]
[7] Willamegicken (Wellemeghikink), known to the whites as James, was a prominent brave of the Allegheny Delawares, who had been employed as a messenger between them and the Susquehanna tribes of the same race. He had agreed to accompany Post on this journey, for which the Pennsylvania Council had voted to supply him with a horse. Pennsylvania Archives, iii, p. 415; Pennsylvania Colonial Records, viii, p. 148.—Ed.
[8] Bethlehem is a Moravian town built in 1741-42, after the retreat of these people from Georgia. Count Zinzendorf organized the congregation at this place, and named the settlement (1742). For the first twenty years a community system prevailed among the inhabitants, called the “Economy.” Portions of the buildings erected under that régime are still standing. See “Moravians and their Festival,” in Outlook, August 1, 1903. In 1752, the brethren built a large stone house for the accommodation of Indian visitors, and those who escaped the massacre of 1755 were domiciled there when Post passed through.—Ed.
[9] These two treaties were made with Teedyuscung: the first at Easton in July and August, 1757, whereby the neutrality of the Susquehanna Indians and the Six Nations was secured (Pennsylvania Colonial Records, vii, pp. 649-714); the second at Philadelphia in April, 1758 (see Id., viii, pp. 29-56, 87-97).—Ed.
[10] After Braddock’s defeat, the ravaging of the frontiers both west and north of the settled portions of Pennsylvania became so serious that the colonial government appointed a commission, headed by Franklin, to take means to protect the settlers, and defend the territory. Franklin proceeded into Northumberland County, and made arrangements to fortify the point on the Lehigh where Weisport, Carbon County, now stands. But before the stockade was completed a body of Indians fell upon and seriously defeated a party of militia from the neighboring Irish settlements, led by Captain Hayes (January, 1756). The works were pushed rapidly after this setback, and the fort was named in honor of William Allen, chief-justice of the province. This post was garrisoned until after Pontiac’s War, and probably throughout the Revolution. See Franklin’s Writings (New York, 1887), ii, pp. 449-454.—Ed.
[11] Teedyuscung, one of the most famous of Delaware chiefs, was born in Trenton about 1705. When nearly fifty years old, he was chosen chief of the Susquehanna Delawares, and being shrewd and cunning played a game of diplomacy between the Iroquois, the Ohio Indians, and the authorities of Pennsylvania, by which he managed largely to enhance his own importance, and to free the Delawares from their submission to the Six Nations. His headquarters were in the Wyoming Valley, whence he descended to the Moravian settlements, and even to Easton and Philadelphia, to secure supplies from the Pennsylvania authorities. In 1756 a truce was patched up with this chief at Easton, after he had bitterly complained of the “Walking Purchase” of 1737, and the white settlements on the Juniata. His loyalty to the English was doubtful and wavering, and his opposition to Post’s journey was probably due to fears that his own importance as a medium between the Ohio Indians and the English would be diminished by the former’s success. His cabin at Wyoming having treacherously been set on fire, during one of his drunken sleeps, Teedyuscung was burned to death in 1763. The Iroquois, who were the guilty party, threw the obloquy upon the Connecticut settlement, whereupon Teedyuscung’s followers murdered all the band.—Ed.
[12] Wyoming Valley was the bone of contention between the Connecticut and Pennsylvania colonies, each claiming that it was within their charter limits. The Connecticut agents succeeded in securing an Indian title at the Albany conference (1754); but their first settlement being effaced by an Indian massacre (see preceding note), their next body of emigrants did not proceed thither until 1769. Meanwhile, on the strength of the Indian purchase at Fort Stanwix (1768) the Pennsylvanians had occupied the valley; and a border warfare began, which lasted until the Revolution. The massacre of 1778, by the Tories and British Indians, is a matter of general history.
The Indians of the valley were of many tribes—Oneidas, Delawares, Shawnees, Munseys, Nanticokes, etc. The Moravian Christian Indians settled at Wyoming in 1752. After the murder of Teedyuscung they fled, but returned to found the town of Wyalusing (1765), where the missionary Zeisberger lived with them until their removal, three years later to the Ohio.—Ed.
[13] An Indian expression meaning free admission.—[C. T.?]
[14] Post, after leaving Fort Allen, passed through the present Carbon County, crossed the headwaters of the Schuylkill, and traversed Northumberland County to Fort Augusta. On the massacres in that region see Rupp, History of Northumberland, etc., (Lancaster, 1847), pp. 100-116. Fort Augusta, at the forks of the Susquehanna, was built in 1756, at the request of the Indians settled there under the chieftainship of Shickalamy. It was not a mere stockade and blockhouse, but a regular fortification, provided with cannon, and was commanded at first by Colonel Clapham, succeeded by Colonel James Burd. This stronghold was garrisoned until after the Revolutionary War; but before that time settlement had begun to spring up about the fort, and the town of Sunbury was laid out in 1772.—Ed.
[15] An Indian settlement towards the heads of Susquahanna.—[C. T.?]
[16] The reference is to Abercrombie’s defeat and retreat from Fort Ticonderoga in July, 1758.—Ed.
[17] The Indian trail followed by Post, passed up the West Branch of the Susquehanna, through a region which had earlier been thickly sprinkled with Indian towns. The Moravian missionaries had been here as early as 1742, and had been hospitably received by Madame Montour, whose town was at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek, opposite the present village of Montoursville. This was probably Post’s “Wekeponall,” as the path to Wyoming led northeast from this place. Queenashawakee (Quenslehague) Creek is in Lycoming County, with the town of Linden at its mouth.—Ed.
[18] Little hoops on which the Indians stretch and dress the raw scalps.—[C. T.?]
[19] Big Island is at the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek, in Clinton County. From that point the trail led up the creek to a point above Milesburg, Center County, then turned almost due west across Center and Clearfield counties to Clearfield (Shinglimuhee). This was the “Chinklacamoos path,” north of the Kittanning trail followed by Weiser in 1748. The word “Chinklacamoos” is said to signify “it almost joins,” in allusion to a horseshoe bend at this place. See Meginness, Otzinachson: A History of the West Branch Valley (rev. ed., Williamsport, Pa., 1889), p. 272.—Ed.
[20] An Indian Chief, that travelled with him.—[C. T.?]
[21] The money of Pennsylvania, being paper, is chiefly carried in pocket books.—[C. T.?]
[22] From Chinklacamoos the Indian trail crossed Clearfield, Jefferson, and Clarion counties, over Little Toby’s Creek (Tobeco), the Clarion River (big river Tobeco), and east Sandy Creek (Weshawaucks). That no Indians were met through all this region is proof of its deserted condition, its former frequenters having withdrawn to the French sphere of influence.—Ed.
[23] The officer commanding Venango at this time was Jean Baptiste Boucher Sieur de Niverville, a noted border ranger and Indian raider. Born in Montreal in 1716, he early acquired an ascendency over the Abenaki Indians, which was utilized in leading their parties against the English settlements of New England. In King George’s War, bands under his command ravaged New Hampshire and Vermont, and penetrated as far as Fort Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills (1748). During the French and Indian War, he was similarly employed, and after Braddock’s defeat, conducted a winter campaign of thirty-three days, in the direction of Fort Cumberland on the Potomac, bringing off numerous English captives. At Lake George in 1757, he led the Abenaki auxiliaries, and was present at the massacre of Fort William Henry. The last that is known of his military exploits is during the siege of Quebec, when he defended dangerous outposts with the aid of savage allies.—Ed.
[24] According to the rules of Indian politeness, you must never go into a town without sending a previous message to denote your arrival, or, standing at a distance from the town, and hallooing till some come out, to conduct you in. Otherwise you are thought as rude as white men.—[C. T.?]
[25] When the people of a town, or of a nation, are addressed, the Indians always use the singular number.—[C. T.?]
[26] i. e. To confer in a friendly manner.—[C. T.?]
[27] i. e. Call to mind our ancient friendly intercourse.—[C. T.?]
[28] Every Indian town has a large cabbin for the entertainment of strangers by the public hospitality.—[C. T.?]
[29] That is, the Quakers, for whom the Indians have a particular regard.—[C. T.?]
[30] Delaware George was an important chief of that tribe, who had been a disciple of Post’s in his Pennsylvania mission. He maintained friendly relations with the English until after the defeat of Braddock. Although closely associated with King Beaver and Shingas, he seems to have leaned more than they to the English interest.—Ed.
[31] That is, we look on your coming as a matter of importance, it engages our attention.—[C. T.?]
[32] At the Easton treaty in the autumn of 1757, Teedyuscung had promised to “halloo” to all the far Indian tribes, and bring them to an understanding with the English. In January, 1758, he reported to the governor that “all the Indian Nations from the Sun Rise to these beyond the Lakes, as far as the Sun setts, have heard what has passed between you and me, and are pleased with it,” and urged him to continue the work of peace. Teedyuscung was evidently enlarging upon his own importance, and to this end giving unwarrantable information.—Ed.
[33] These belts and strings are made of shell-beads, called wampum. The wampum serves, among the Indians, as money; of it they also make their necklaces, bracelets, and other ornaments. Belts and strings of it are used in all public negotiations; to each belt or string there is connected a message, speech, or part of a speech, to be delivered with a belt by the messenger, or speaker. These belts also serve for records, being worked with figures, composed of beads of different colours, to assist the memory.—[C. T.?]
[34] The peace made with Teedyuscung, was for the Delawares, &c. on Susquahanna only, and did not include the Indians on the Ohio; they having no deputies at the treaty. But he had promised to halloo to them, that is, send messengers to them, and endeavour to draw them into the peace, which he accordingly did.—[C. T.?]
[35] A fire, in public affairs, signifies, among the Indians a council.—[C. T.?]
[36] i. e. This Englishman.—[C. T.?]
[37] By father, they express the French.—[C. T.?]
[38] By I, he here means, I, the Six Nations, of which the Onondagoes are one of the greatest. This was, therefore, a claim of the Ohio lands, as belonging to the Six Nations, exclusive of the Delawares, whom they formerly called women.—[C. T.?]
[39] The Indians smoke in their councils.—[C. T.?]
[40] That is, the sentiments you express, are offensive to the company.—[C. T.?]
[41] That is, he had changed his offensive sentiments.—[C. T.?]
[42] That is, that they would act vigorously.—[C. T.?]
[43] The French, at the fort.—[C. T.?]
[44] The Six Nations.—[C. T.?]
[45] Kuckquetackton (Koquethagechton) was the Indian name of the famous Delaware chief Captain White Eyes. About 1776, he succeeded Netawatwes, of whom he had been chief counsellor, as head of the nation Heckewelder first met him at this same town, where Post encountered him in 1772, and says that he strove to keep the neutrality during both Lord Dunmore’s War and the Revolution. Finding that impossible, he joined the American cause (1778), and brought an Indian contingent to the aid of General McIntosh at Fort Laurens; dying, however, before the attack was made on the Sandusky towns. He was always a firm friend of the Moravians, and though of small stature was one of the best and bravest of Delaware chiefs.
There were two chiefs known by the name of Killbuck, the younger of whom was the more famous. His Indian name was Gelelemend, and he was a grandson of the great chief Netawatwes. Born near Lehigh Water Gap in the decade 1730-40, he removed to the Allegheny with the Delawares, and later to the Muskingum, where was a village called Killbuck’s Town. Like White Eyes, he was a firm friend of peace and of the whites, and his life was imperilled because of this advocacy. He joined the Moravians, and was baptized as William Henry, about 1788. Later he removed to Pittsburg to secure protection from his enemies, but died at Goshen in 1811. A lineal descendant of Killbuck is at present a Moravian missionary in Alaska.—Ed.
[46] That is, go on steadily with this good work of establishing a peace.—[C. T.?]
[47] Meaning the Cherokees.—[C. T.?]
[48] Some of the first English speech, that the Indians learn from the traders, is swearing.—[C. T.?]
[49] Heckewelder testifies that Shingas, though a dreaded foe in battle, was never known to treat prisoners cruelly. See his Indian Nations, Historical Society of Pennsylvania Memoirs (Philadelphia, 1876), xii, pp. 269, 270.—Ed.
[50] The Indians, having plenty of land, are no niggards of it. They sometimes give large tracts to their friends freely; and when they sell it, they make most generous bargains. But some fraudulent purchases, in which they were grossly imposed on, and some violent intrusions, imprudently and wickedly made without purchase, have rendered them jealous that we intend finally to take all from them by force. We should endeavour to recover our credit with them by fair purchases and honest payments; and then there is no doubt but they will readily sell us, at reasonable rates, as much, from time to time, as we can possibly have occasion for.—[C. T.?]
[51] The agreement made with Teedyuscung, that he should enjoy the Wioming lands, and have houses built there for him and his people.—[C. T.?]
[52] The army under General Forbes.—[C. T.?]
[53] The Indian traders used to buy the transported Irish, and other convicts, as servants, to be employed in carrying up the goods among the Indians. The ill behaviour of these people has always hurt the character of the English among the Indians.—[C. T.?]
[54] No spy among his enemies.—[C. T.?]
[55] That is, since we had a friendly intercourse with each other. The frequent repetition of the word, Brethren, is the effect of their rules of politeness, which enjoin, in all conversations, a constant remembrance of the relation subsisting between the parties, especially where that relation implies any affection, or respect. It is like the perpetual repetitions among us, of Sir, or, Madam, or, Your Lordship. In the same manner the Indians at every sentence repeat, My Father, My Uncle, My Cousin, My Brother, My Friend, &c.—[C. T.?]
[56] In this speech the Indians carefully guard the honour of their nation, by frequently intimating, that the peace is sought by the English: you have talked of peace: you are sorry for the war: you have digged up the peace, that was buried, &c. Then they declare their readiness to grant peace, if the English agree to its being general for all the colonies. The Indian word, that is translated, be strong, so often repeated, is an expression they use to spirit up persons, who have undertaken some difficult task, as to lift, or move, a great weight, or execute a difficult enterprise; nearly equivalent to our word, courage! courage!—[C. T.?]
[57] The three tribes of the Delaware nation—the Unamis, Unalachtgo, and Minsi—were designated by the totems turtle, turkey, and wolf. The chief of the first of these was the head chief of the nation, being chosen and installed with great ceremony and rejoicing. See Heckewelder, Indian Nations, pp. 51, 53.—Ed.
[58] Meaning General Forbes’s army.—[C. T.?]
[59] i. e. Just ready to enter our country.—[C. T.?]
[60] Two of the prisoners mention their pleasure at seeing Post, and the fact that the Indians forbade them to communicate with him. See “Narrative of Marie le Roy and Barbara Leininger,” Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd series (Harrisburg, 1878), vii, pp. 401-412.—Ed.
[61] He was sent to collect the Indians together, to attack General Forbes’s army, once more, on their march.—[C. T.?]
[62] The creek, here called “Antigoc” was probably Venango or the French Creek, which the Delawares designated as Attigé.—Ed.
[63] The Indian name of this town, in Jefferson County, on the Mahoning Creek, is usually given as Punxatawny.—Ed.
[64] Probably this was the town called “Calamaweshink” or “Chinklemoose,” Clearfield.—Ed.
[65] The proprietors of Pennsylvania chose William Denny lieutenant-governor (1756), because they wished a “military man with a ready pen.” He had been captain in the British army, and his experience in Pennsylvania gave opportunity for military talents. But bound by instructions from his principals, and hampered by the hostility of the provincial assembly, he made no headway in his government. Accused of accepting bribes to betray the proprietors’ interests, he was removed in October, 1759. Returning to England, he was given a high position in the army, and died about 1766.—Ed.
[66] Captain Bull and Lieutenant Hays were militia officers, the latter of Northampton County, where was an Irish settlement between Bethlehem and Fort Allen, known as “Hays’s.” Captain John Bull commanded at Fort Allen in the summer of 1758. They both volunteered to undertake this hazardous mission of a visit to the Ohio Indians. For the instructions given them, see Pennsylvania Archives, iii, p. 556.—Ed.
[67] Thomas Hickman was an Indian who had taken an English name, and was much employed by the province of Pennsylvania as an interpreter. A brutal white man murdered Hickman in the Tuscarora Valley in 1761.
Totiniontenna was a Cayuga chieftain who with Shickalamy was deputed by the Six Nations to undertake this embassy to the Ohio Indians.
The chief here called Shickalamy was the youngest son, of the famous Oneida of that name, who dwelt so long at the forks of the Susquehanna, and was friendly to the whites, especially the Moravians. The elder chief died in 1749, his most famous son being Logan.
Isaac Still was a Moravian Christian Indian, frequently employed as a messenger and interpreter.—Ed.
[68] Shamokin was an Indian town at the forks of the Susquehanna, the abode of Shickalamy, “vice-king” of the Indians of that region. It was first visited by the whites in 1728. Weiser built a house at this village by request of the chief, in 1744. Frequent visits of the Moravians led to the establishment here of a blacksmith’s shop, and a quasi-mission. Fort Augusta was built there in 1756; but on the proclamation of war against the Delawares in the same year, the Indians abandoned the place and destroyed the settlement.—Ed.
[69] The general here referred to was John Forbes, a Scotchman who in 1757 was appointed brigadier-general for the war in America. His first service was at Louisburg. In 1758, he was appointed to organize the expedition against Fort Duquesne. After the French, on the approach of Forbes’s army, had abandoned that stronghold, the general, suffering from a serious disease, was carried by slow stages to Philadelphia, where he died in March, 1760. He was a man of iron purpose, and great strength of character, being popular alike with his soldiers and Indian allies.—Ed.
[70] A string of wampum beads. Nothing of importance is said, or proposed without wampum.—[C. T.?]
[71] The Indians, having learned drunkenness of the white people, do not reckon it among the vices. They all, without exception, and without shame, practice it when they can get strong liquor. It does not, among them, hurt the character of the greatest warrior, the greatest counsellor, or the modestest matron. It is not so much an offence, as an excuse for other offences; the injuries they do each other in their drink being charged, not upon the man, but upon the rum.—[C. T.?]
[72] The Ohio.—[C. T.?]
[73] An Indian trader, John Harris, built a log house on the Susquehanna in 1705, and later established an inn and a ferry at the spot called Harris’s Ferry, which was maintained for three-quarters of a century. His son laid out the present town of Harrisburg.—Ed.
[74] They were afraid of going where our people were all in arms, lest some of the indiscreet soldiers might kill them.—[C. T.?]
[75] Carlisle, the seat of Cumberland County (erected in 1750), was originally settled by Scotch-Irish immigrants, who in the decade between 1720 and 1730 formed the “back settlements” of Pennsylvania. The Indian title was extinguished by a treaty in 1736; but when Fort Lowther was built at this site in 1753, there were but five houses in the place. Later it became the eastern terminus of the Pennsylvania highroad, and the centre of an extensive overland trade.—Ed.
[76] The town of Shippensburg was one of the oldest west of the Susquehanna, having been laid out in 1749, by Edward Shippen—later chief-justice of Pennsylvania—on land of which he was proprietor. It was the site of two frontier forts—Franklin, built before Braddock’s defeat; and Morris, erected after that disaster. Shippensburg became an important station on the Pennsylvania state road; and until the opening of the nineteenth century was the end of the stage-route from Lancaster westward.—Ed.
[77] Chambers’s Fort was a private stockade erected (1756) on the Conococheague Creek, by a Scotch-Irishman, Benjamin Chambers, who for some time had had a mill and settlement here. The fort was a large stone building, protected by cannon, and considered one of the strongest defenses in that region. The government attempted to take possession of the guns in 1757, lest they should be captured and turned against the other forts; but the Scotch-Irish settlers stoutly resisted this attempt, and it was abandoned. The present city of Chambersburg occupies the site.—Ed.
[78] This should not be confused with the more famous Fort Loudoun, built the same year (1756) in Tennessee as a check upon the Cherokees. The Pennsylvania fort was on the road between Shippensburg and Fort Lyttleton, about a mile east of the present village of Loudon, Franklin County, being erected by Armstrong after Braddock’s defeat. This was the scene of the plundering of the Indian goods, dispatched to the Ohio (1765) for Croghan’s use on his journey to the Illinois.
The Cherokees were employed by the English as auxiliaries in this campaign. Their presence had caused much concern among the Northern Indians, and Post had been sent to Wyoming the previous spring, with reassuring messages on this account.
Bill Sock was a Conestoga Indian, employed as a messenger to the Six Nations. He was massacred in the Paxton affair (1763). See Heckeweldert Narrative, p. 79.—Ed.
[79] A calumet pipe; the signal of peace.—[C. T.?]
[80] Fort Lyttleton was another of the chain of frontier posts built in 1756 for the protection of the frontiers. It was located at the place called by the Indian traders “Sugar Cabins,” near the present McConnellsburg, Fulton County. A garrison was maintained at this point until after Pontiac’s War, when it gradually fell into ruins, some relics of its occupation being still found in the locality.—Ed.
[81] Ray’s town, so named from its first settler (1751), was the chief rendezvous for Forbes’s army in this campaign, where he had the stronghold of Fort Bedford built, and whence he made his final advance against Fort Duquesne. From 1760-63, the fort at this place was commanded by Captain Lewis Ourry of the Royal Americans; and its apparent strength saved it from attack by the Indians of the conspiracy. Bouquet made it the rendezvous in his advance in 1764. Throughout the Indian wars, Fort Bedford was the most important station between Carlisle and Fort Pitt. The town of Bedford was incorporated in 1766.—Ed.
[82] Post’s testimony as to the condition of the new road cut for the army west from Fort Bedford is interesting. For an account of the controversy over the building of this road, see Hulbert, Old Glade Road (Cleveland, 1903), pp. 65-161.
Stony Creek flows northward through the valley between the Allegheny and Laurel Hill ranges of mountains.—Ed.
[83] The creek called “Rekempalin,” apparently was Pickings Run in Somerset County—not a large creek, but all streams were swollen by unusual rains.
Loyal Hanna was an old Indian town situated on the trail passing west to Shannopin’s Town at the Forks of the Ohio. Upon the advance of Forbes’s army (1758), this was made the last station on the road to Fort Duquesne, and a fort was built called Ligonier. Before the erection of this fort the station was known simply as the “Camp on Loyal Hanna.”—Ed.
[84] Captain John Haslett was an officer of the Pennsylvania provincial troops, of which there was in Forbes’s army, a contingent of two thousand and seven hundred. Probably this was the same officer who commanded Delaware troops in the Revolution, and after conspicuous bravery at Long Island was killed in the battle of Princeton.—Ed.
[85] The camping-place for this night, at the advanced breast-work, is identified as on the Nine Mile Run, in Unity Township, Westmoreland County, being still locally known as “Breast-work Hill.”—Ed.
[86] Lieutenant William Hays, who was later killed on his return from escorting Post, belonged to the Royal Americans, having been commissioned December 11, 1756.—Ed.
[87] The Ohio, as it is called by the Sennecas. Alleghenny is the name of the same river in the Delaware language. Both words signify the fine, or fair river.—[C. T.?]
[88] The Indian town which Post calls Keckkeknepolin was usually known as Blackleg’s Town, being situated at the mouth of Loyalhanna Creek, where it flows into the Kiskiminitas.—Ed.
[89] Heckewelder says that the word “Kiskiminitas” means “make daylight,” and was due to the impatient exclamation of some eager warrior encamped on the spot. The town here mentioned was in Armstrong County, on a creek of the same name, about seven miles from where it flows into the Allegheny River.—Ed.
[90] When he parted from Captain Haslett, Post left the regular westward Indian trail to the Forks of the Ohio. In order to avoid Fort Duquesne, and to reach the Indian towns beyond the Allegheny, he followed a northward branch of the same that led down the Loyalhanna and Kiskiminitas creeks. The Indian town at the mouth of Kiskiminitas Creek had always been insignificant, lying between Kittanning on the north, and Shannopin’s Town on the south.—Ed.
[91] Connequenessing Creek, whose name, according to Heckewelder, signifies “a long straight course.”—Ed.
[92] Persons appointed by law to manage the Indian trade, for the public; the private trade, on account of its abuses, being abolished.—[C. T.?]
[93] Where they boil into sugar the juice of a tree that grows in those rich lands.—[C. T.?]
[94] Irvine says (Pennsylvania Archives, xi, p. 518) that the Indians termed all the land along Beaver and Mahoning creeks for twenty-five miles, Kuskuskies. Old Kuskusking was located between the mouths of Neshanock and Mahoning creeks on the Shenango, about where the town of New Castle, Lawrence County, now stands.—Ed.
[95] Kekeuscung’s name signified “the healer.” He was accounted a great warrior, and often joined the Six Nations against the Cherokees. The traditional hostility between the latter Indians and those around the Allegheny rendered difficult the attempt to conciliate the Delawares while the Cherokees were in the English army.
The attack here mentioned on the English camp at Loyalhanna, was repulsed by Colonel Mercer and the Virginian troops. On their return they fired by mistake upon their own re-enforcements, and nearly killed their leader, Washington.—Ed.
[96] An Indian with an English name. An Indian sometimes changes his name with an Englishman he respects; it is a seal of friendship, and creates a kind of relation between them.—[C. T.?]
[97] When a prisoner is brought to an Indian town, he runs a kind of gauntlet thro’ the mob; and every one, even the children, endeavour to have a stroke at him; but as soon as he can get into any of their huts, he is under protection, and refreshments are administered to him.—[C. T.?]
[98] i. e. He has listened to the English messengers.—[C. T.?]
[99] Kicking the string about, and throwing it with a stick, not touching it with their hands, were marks of dislike of the message, that accompanied it.—[C. T.?]
[100] The Quakers of Philadelphia, who first set on foot these negociations of peace; and for whom the Indians have always had a great regard.—[C. T.?]
Comment by Ed. See on this subject Pennsylvania Archives, iii, p. 581.
[101] “Sastaghretsy, Anigh Kalicken, Atowateany, Towigh, Towighroano, Geghdageghroano, Oyaghtanont, Sisaghroano, Stiaggeghroano, Jenontadynago.”—[C. T.?]
[102] Diamond figures, formed by beads of wampum, of different colours.—[C. T.?]
[103] Important matters should be accompanied with large strings, or belts; but sometimes a sufficient quantity of wampum is not at hand.—[C. T.?]
[104] The word, wishicksey, translated, be strong, is of a very extensive signification be strong, be steady, pursue to effect what you have begun, &c.—[C. T.?]
[105] i. e. They will observe how we are dressed.—[C. T.?]
[106] Thomas King was an Oneida Indian, who had taken a prominent part in the treaty at Easton (October, 1758).—Ed.
[107] It is probable that Croghan brought Post the news of the change of name from Fort Duquesne to Pittsburg. He apparently uses the new term with much relish. The day after the English occupation of Fort Duquesne, General Forbes wrote to Governor Denny, dating his letter “Fort Duquesne, or now Pittsburg.”—Pennsylvania Colonial Records, viii, p. 232.—Ed.
[108] As it often happens to the Indians, on their long marches, in war, and sometimes in their hunting expeditions, to be without victuals for several days, occasioned by bad weather and other accidents, they have the custom in such cases; which Post probably learned of them, viz. girding their bellies tight, when they have nothing to put in them; and they say it prevents the pain of hunger.—[C. T.?]
[109] Colonel Henry Bouquet, a Swiss officer, who had served with distinction in the armies of Sardinia and Holland, was engaged to enter the regiment of Royal Americans, and came to America in 1756. The following year he was in command in South Carolina; but early in 1758 was summoned north to aid Forbes in his march through Pennsylvania. Bouquet commanded the advance, and prepared the road, ordered the stations for reserve supplies, and by careful management contributed much to the success of the campaign. Upon Forbes’s retiring, Bouquet was left in command at Fort Pitt, where he remained fulfilling the arduous and exacting duties of his frontier service until late in 1762, when he was relieved by Captain Ecuyer, and returned to Philadelphia. On the news of the siege of Fort Pitt (1763), Bouquet organized a relief expedition, which inflicted a severe defeat upon the Indians at Bushy Run. The following year, the Indian country was invaded, Bouquet’s expedition to the Muskingum proving a complete success. Relieved from his Western command, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and placed in command of all the troops in the southern British colonies of America. He died at Pensacola, February, 1766, at the early age of forty-seven. He was not only a soldier of ability and vigor, but a man of most attractive and charming character, beloved by superiors and subordinates. The collection of his letters in the British Museum is a chief source for the history of the West during this period. See calendar in Canadian Archives, 1889; extracts in Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, xix, pp. 27-295; also Bouquet’s Expedition against the Ohio Indians (Cincinnati, 1868).—Ed.
[110] Major Halket was the son of Sir Peter Halket, who was killed, together with another son, at the battle of Monongahela (1755). When Major Halket accompanied the detachment sent by Forbes to bury the bones of the victims of that disaster, he recognized the skeletons of his father and brother and at the sight fainted with grief and horror.—Ed.
[111] James Glen had been governor of South Carolina (1744-55), but was superseded in the latter year by Governor Lyttleton. His presence at Forbes’s camp is perhaps explained by the fact that he was interested in the Cherokee Indian trade.—Ed.
[112] Captain Nicholas Wedderholz (Weatherholt) was a militia officer in command of a German company from Northumberland County, which was enlisted December 16, 1755, and “discontinued” in 1760. It is said that every man in his company was of German descent. During the Indian troubles of 1763, Weatherholt raised another company, which did not, however, see active service.—Ed.
[113] Israel Pemberton was a member of a prominent Quaker family, and a merchant of Philadelphia. Very active in political affairs, and influential with the Indians because of his Quaker principles and trade-relations, he was one of the leading members of the “Friendly Association,” formed to put down war with the Indians. In 1759 he sent for the association £1,000 worth of goods to be distributed to the Ohio Indians at Pittsburg. Pemberton, with other leading Quakers, was much disliked by the borderers, who called him “King Wampum,” and placed his life in jeopardy during the Paxton riots (1763). Neither did Pemberton find favor with the “Sons of Liberty,” and the patriot party of the Revolution. In 1777 he, with two brothers, was banished to Virginia on the charge of aiding the British enemy.—Ed.
IV
Journal of Captain Thomas Morris, of His Majesty’s XVII Regiment of Infantry; Detroit, September 25, 1764
Reprint from the author’s Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (London, 1791), pp. 1-39