The Shawnee at Minisink are said to have built a town on the east side of the Delaware, three miles south of the mouth of Flat Brook, which was called Pechoquealin. They also had a town on the Pennsylvania side of the river which had the same name, and probably stood near the site of the present town of Shawnee, at the mouth of Shawnee Run, in what is now Lower Smithfield Township, Monroe County.
Secretary James Logan stated in a letter to Governor Clark, of New York, dated August 4, 1737, that when the Shawnee came from the South in 1692 one party of them “was placed at Pechoquealin, near Durham, to take care of the iron mines.” Their village was probably on the high ground back of the lower end of Rieglesville, and near the furnace, where traces of an Indian town still are to be seen.
The territory known as the Minisinks was often the scene of strife with the red men, and almost every dell, in what is now Pike County, Pa., and Orange County, N. Y., has its local tradition.
Count Pulaski and his legion of cavalry were stationed at Minisink, during part of the winter of 1778–79. In February he was ordered to South Carolina to join the army under Lincoln. The settlement was thus left wholly unprotected, which being perceived by Joseph Brant, the accomplished Indian warrior, he resolved to make a descent upon it.
Early in July, Joseph Brant, the daring and treacherous Mohawk chief, left the Susquehanna with some 400 warriors. The settlers had received timely warning and threw out scouts to watch the approach of the invaders.
On the night of July 19 the Indians, with Tories disguised as savages, stole upon the little town of Minisink, where Port Jervis now stands, and before the people were aroused from their slumbers several dwellings were set on fire. Without means of defense, the inhabitants sought safety in flight to the mountains. Their small stockade fort, a mill and twelve houses and barns were burned, several persons killed, some taken prisoners, cattle driven away and the booty carried to Grassy Brook, where Brant had left the main body of his warriors.
While these events were being enacted a call for volunteers was responded to and 150 men met the following morning, determined to pursue the savages.
Colonel Tusten, who knew the craftiness of Brant, opposed pursuit, but was overruled. Major Meeker, mounting his horse, shouted, “Let the brave men follow me; the cowards may stay behind.” The line of march was formed, and they traveled seventeen miles, then encamped for the night.
The march was resumed the morning of July 22, and at Half-Way Brook came upon the Indian encampment of the previous night. The number of smoldering fires indicated a large savage force, and the two colonels, with the more prudent, advocated a return rather than further pursuit. The majority determined to pursue.
A scouting party was sent forward, but was discovered and the captain slain. The volunteers pressed onward, and at 9 o’clock the enemy could be seen marching in the direction of the fording place. Brant had already deposited a large part of his plunder in Pike County. The commander of the volunteers determined to intercept them at the ford, but Brant had been watching the movements of his pursuers and, comprehending their designs, he wheeled his column and by a strategic[strategic] movement brought his whole force in the rear of the Americans. Here he formed an ambuscade and deliberately selected his battleground.