Cherry Valley in Otsego County, New York, is one of the most beautiful and fertile sections of the state, so fertile that hundreds of white settlers had here taken up plantations. Their consternation was great when they learned in 1777 that Brant with a large force of Iroquois and Mohawks had determined to attack them. From Oquaga on the Susquehanna the red men approached the settlements one bright morning in May, and from the thick woods glared upon the largest fortification of the settlement, in front of which some boys were parading with swords of wood and guns of the same material. Luckily the Indian Chief thought that these were real soldiers, and fearing to attack he withdrew.
But soon two young men—Lieutenant Wormwood and Peter Sitz—rode into the wood, where his Indians were in hiding. The former had just galloped over from the Mohawk Valley to tell the people that troops would soon be sent to them, as assistance, and the other had some exaggerated dispatches upon his person, stating that the defenses of the fort were twice as strong as they really were. It was fortunate that he had these with him, for, as they were captured by Brant and his men, these bogus dispatches made the Indians desist in an attack upon the stockade in Cherry Valley. Wormwood was killed by a volley from the guns of the savages and was scalped, an act which Brant is said to have much regretted, as he had formerly been friendly with the young man. Sitz was allowed to go, although the Mohawks were eager to torture him.
The Indians continued to flock to the standard of Joseph Brant, and the people of the frontier were in terror of their lives. Hastily they formed a militia and placed the raw recruits under the command of a lean, clean-limbed frontiersman called Herkimer, who was an old neighbor and friend of Joseph Brant. This soldier determined if possible to capture the wily brave, and so, inviting him to an interview, he marched out with three hundred men to meet him at Unadilla. When he had arrived there, a messenger came in from the camp of the Indians.
"Captain Brant wants to know why you came here?" said the Mohawk.
Herkimer looked firmly at him. "I merely came to see and talk with my brother, Captain Brant," he answered.
The Indian gazed suspiciously around at the hard-visaged militiamen.
"Do all these men want to talk with Captain Brant also?" he asked. "I will carry your big talk to Captain Brant," he continued, "but you must not come any farther." So saying, he made off towards the camp of the Indians.
A meeting was now appointed through messengers to take place about midway between the two small armies. Herkimer hurried to the place of council, but had to wait a long time for Brant and his warriors, who showed by their actions that they suspected treachery. Herkimer, himself, scarcely disguised his intense dislike for the Indian warrior, as he looked into the keen eyes of the famous redskin.
"May I inquire the reason of my being honored by a visit from such an eminent man as yourself?" asked Brant politely.
"I came upon a friendly errand," said Herkimer. "I want to know whether you intend to ally yourself with the British or not?"