Lochry now realized that his movement down the stream was being watched by the savages from both shores, and for two days and nights no landing or halt was made. The little flotilla glided swiftly down the stream, until necessity compelled landing, to graze the horses and seek meat for the men.
The boats approached the mouth of a small creek, in the forenoon of August 24. This creek has since been called Lochry’s Run. A buffalo was drinking at the river’s edge and a soldier brought it down, when Colonel Lochry ordered a landing, for here was meat and fine grass for the horses.
No sooner had a landing been made than a hundred rifles cracked from the wooded bank, many white men were killed and many wounded.
The men made for the boats and shoved off for the opposite shore. Painted savages then appeared, shrieking and firing, and a fleet of canoes filled with other savages shot out from the Kentucky shore, completely cutting off the escape of Lochry’s men. The volunteers returned the fire for a few moments, but were entrapped, and Colonel Lochry offered to surrender. The fight ceased, the boats poled back to shore and the force again landed.
The Westmorelanders found themselves the prisoners of Joseph Brant, the most famous Mohawk Chief, who commanded a large force of Iroquois, Shawnee and Wyandot. George Girty, brother of the notorious Simon, also commanded an Indian force. The Shawnee could not be controlled and killed the prisoners they claimed as their share. While Colonel Lochry was sitting on a log a Shawnee warrior slipped up behind him and sank a tomahawk into his skull, tearing off his scalp before life was extinct. It was with great difficulty Brant was able to prevent the massacre of the men assigned to the Mohawk and Wyandot.
In this massacre forty Westmoreland volunteers were slain, and sixty-four taken captives. Among those who escaped death were Captains Stokely and Orr, the latter being severely wounded. The dead were left unburied and the prisoners hurried away to Detroit, where most of them were turned over to the British, and afterward transferred to Montreal. Only nineteen of the men ever returned to Westmoreland County.
Civil Government in Pennsylvania Established
at Meeting of Council
August 3, 1681
When William Penn was granted the charter for Pennsylvania, he and his heirs were constituted the true and absolute Proprietary of the country. Penn was empowered to establish laws, appoint officers, and to do other acts and things necessary to govern the country, including the right to erect manors.