History of the Early Settlement of the Juniata Valley Part 14

Fortunately, the man possessed two rifles, both of which he loaded, placed one over the chimney-piece, the other upon his shoulder, and departed on his errand. While the woman was busy attending to her household affairs, she saw two Indians, partly concealed by some bushes in front of the house. In an instant she took down the loaded gun, and watched their motions through the window. In a few minutes both of them stealthily approached the house, when she pointed the gun at the foremost savage and fired; the bullet striking him in the breast, he fell to rise no more. The other savage came directly toward the house, when the woman, still retaining in her grasp the rifle, ascended a ladder to the loft, where she stood with the gun in an att.i.tude of defiance. The quick eye of the Indian detected her movements, and he followed, but with the usual caution of a savage; and when his head reached the opening, he peered into the dark garret to see his intended victim. Grasping one of the puncheons which composed the floor with one hand, he attempted to draw up his rifle with the other, when a discharge followed, and he fell lifeless to the floor. The woman, more dead than alive with fear, remained for a time in the loft, but, hearing no noise, she at length ventured down-stairs, and at the foot of the ladder found the savage perfectly dead, lying in a pool of blood. She took her child out of the cradle, and started for the mouth of the Bald Eagle, but fortunately met her husband but a few rods from the house.

All things taken into consideration, and especially the fact that the woman had never pulled the trigger of a gun before, this was probably one of the most heroic acts on record.

The nearest neighbors were summoned, and, on examining into the matter, it was concluded that, after the first Indian had been shot, the second one immediately c.o.c.ked his rifle, and that while ascending the ladder the trigger must have been touched by a twig on the hickory rung of the ladder. The bullet had struck him under the chin, pa.s.sed through his tongue, and lodged in his brain. His death was certainly an interposition of Providence in behalf of the woman and her infant child.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CAVE IN SINKING VALLEY.]

Sinking Valley proper never could have been much of a resort of the Indians, for no traces of the existence of any villages in it have ever been discovered, neither have any relics ever been found or exhumed in it, that we can hear of, with the exception of some few arrow-heads and a skull, found near the Arch Springs.

The attention of Council was called to the existence of lead in Sinking Valley in a letter from Major-General John Armstrong to President Wharton, dated Yorktown, 23d February, 1778. He says:--

As at present there appears to be a scarcity of the important article of lead, and it is certain a Mr. Harman Husbands, now a member of a.s.sembly for our State, has some knowledge of a lead mine situated in a certain tract of land not far from Frankstown, formerly surveyed for the use of the proprietary family.

General Gates, President of the Board of War, having signified his earnest desire to see and converse with Mr. Husbands on the subject of the mine, and being greatly hurried with business, I have, at his instance, undertaken the present line, that you would please to use your influence with the House of a.s.sembly and with Mr.

Husbands, that he, as soon as possible, may be spared to concert with the Board of War on the best measures for making a trial of and deriving an early supply from that source.

The general is of opinion with me, that the mine ought to--or may at least for the present--be seized by and belong to the State; and that private persons, who, without right, may have sat down on that reserved tract, should neither prevent the use of the lead nor be admitted to make a monopoly of the mine. I am of opinion that a few faithful laborers may be sufficient to make the experiment, and that the lieutenant of the county, or some other good man, may be serviceable in introducing the business.

I cannot doubt the compliance of the honorable a.s.sembly and Council.

P.S.--It may be proper that a summary consideration be first taken, whether the State will make the effort alone or leave it to the conduct of the Board of War; that, at any rate, the salutary effects, if any, may be gained to the public. The water-carriage is a great thing. _Query_--Whether the ore should be run into portable bars at the bank, or at Middleton?

At the writing of the above, some few persons had found their way to the mines, raised small quant.i.ties of ore, and smelted it; but their operations were contracted for want of tools and the proper appliances for smelting. They confined themselves to such ore as was on or near the surface, and made small oven furnaces, and smelted with charcoal.

The Council soon took the suggestion of General Armstrong in hand; and it was resolved to give the general superintendence of the mining operations to General Daniel Roberdeau, then a member of Congress, who went forward to Carlisle to make the necessary arrangements. From that place he wrote to President Wharton, on the 17th of April, 1778, as follows:--

The confidence the honorable the representatives of our State have placed in me by a resolve, together with the pressing and indispensable necessity of a speedy supply of lead for the public service, induced me to ask leave of absence of Congress to proceed with workmen to put their business into a proper train, and have reached this place on that errand; and, having collected men and materials, and sent them forward this day, propose to follow them to-morrow. My views have been greatly enlarged since I left York on the importance of the undertaking and hazard in prosecuting it, for the public works here are not furnished with an ounce of lead but what is in fixed ammunition; on the other hand, the prevailing opinion of people, as I advance into the country, of Indian depredations shortly to commence, might not only deter the workmen I stand in need of, but affright the back settlers from their habitations, and leave the country exposed and naked. To give confidence to one and the other, I have drawn out of the public stores here twenty-five stand of arms and a quant.i.ty of gun-powder, and intended to proceed this morning, but was applied to by John Caruthers, Esq., Lieutenant of the County, and William Brown, Commissary of Provisions for the Militia, who advised me on the subject of their respective departments, and, by the account they gave of the orders from your honorable board to them as to calling out and supplying the militia, I find the State is guarding against the incursions of the savages. This confirmed me in a preconceived intention of erecting a stockade fort in the neighborhood of the mine I am about to work, if I could stir up the inhabitants to give their labor in furnishing an asylum for their families in case of imminent danger, and thus prevent the evacuation of the country.

Mr. Caruthers, convinced of the necessity of the work for the above purposes, condescendingly offered one company of the militia, which he expected would consist of about forty men, under my command, to co-operate in so salutary a business,--as it consisted with the orders of Council respecting the station, being only a deviation of a very few miles,--and that one other company, of about the same number, should also join me, for the greater expedition, until the pleasure of Council was known, which he presumed might coincide with such dispositions, otherwise it might be deranged by an immediate express; and, that the pleasure of Council might be known without delay, I give this intelligence. If these measures are for the good of the public wheel, [weal,] I hope to be honored with a confirmation, and orders to the militia to exert themselves in carrying the design into immediate execution; if otherwise, I rely on the well-known candor of Council that I shall not be suspected of any sinister design in leaning to an offer freely made as above, from, I believe, the best motives, much less that I have presumed to interfere with the arrangements of Council, as this early notice is full proof to the contrary, as the whole is in their power as much as if nothing had pa.s.sed between the lieutenant and myself. I have only to add, on this subject, that your design of patrolling-parties of good riflemen shall be encouraged by me. The commissary, Mr. Brown, being dest.i.tute of money, I would have spared it out of my small stock, but that, by my interference, 1200 dollars--all he asked--was supplied by a public officer here; but further sums will, he said, be soon necessary, and he expressed much concern for the scarcity of provisions. I was advised very lately, by Judge McKean, of a quant.i.ty of salted beef in the neighborhood of Harris's Ferry; and before I left York, I applied to him by letter to advise me of the quant.i.ty and quality, with a design to purchase, as I intended to employ a much greater number of men than are already employed at the lead mine, to carry on the business with vigor. If Council should think proper to order a quant.i.ty of said provisions up the Juniata for the militia, I should be glad of being favored with what I want through the same channel. I intend to build such a fort as, with sufficient provisions, under the smile of Providence, would enable me to defend it against any number of Indians that might presume to invest it. If I am not prevented, by an opportunity of serving the State eminently by a longer stay in the wilderness, I purpose to return to my duty in Congress in about three weeks. Will Council favor me with the exemption of a number of men, not exceeding twenty,--if I cannot be supplied by the adjutant-general, who has orders co-extensive with my want of smelters and miners from deserters from the British army,--to suffer such to come to this part of the country, contrary to a preceding order? If Council should think such a measure of exemption for the public good, I should be glad to receive their orders on that head. I would not intrude my sentiments on Council, but am of opinion that, besides the supplying of provisions to the militia in Bedford, it is very important that the intended stockade should be seasonably furnished with that article; therefore, if it should not be thought advisable to improve the above hint, that the provisions already mentioned in the neighborhood of Harris's should be left unnoticed until I shall have an opportunity of furnishing my own supplies from that stock.

If I shall be advised by Mr. McKean, it is in my offer. My landing is at Water Street, in [on the] Juniata; but I could, on notice, receive any supply from Standing Stone.

In the mean time, the persons employed went forward to the mines, and, under the direction of a Scotch miner named Lowrie, commenced sinking shafts and raising ore at the upper mine. General Roberdeau arrived at Standing Stone after the tory expedition to Kittaning, being, as it would appear, his second visit; the first was a mere tour of observation. From this point he wrote as follows to John Carothers:--

_Standing Stone, April 23, 1778._

SIR:--The enclosed was put into my hands, to be forwarded to you by express. The intelligence it contains is abundantly confirmed by several persons I have examined, both fugitives from the frontiers and some volunteers that have returned for an immediate supply of ammunition and provisions, to be sent forward to Sinking Spring Valley, as the troops will be obliged to quit the service except they are supplied without delay. Want of arms prevents those who would turn out. I shall furnish what I brought from Carlisle as soon as they come forward; but it is very unfortunate that these arms, and the ammunition, which is coming by water, have been r.e.t.a.r.ded by contrary wind, and probably the lowness of the water. To remedy this, I have despatched two canoes this morning to meet them on the way. I am giving Mr. Brown, who is here, every a.s.sistance in my power; but your aid is greatly wanted to stimulate the militia, and furnish arms, ammunition, pack-horses, and every thing necessary in your line of duty. The insurgents from this neighborhood, I am informed, are about thirty.

One of them (Hess) has been taken, and confession extorted, from which it appears that this banditti expect to be joined by three hundred men from the other side the Alleghany; reports more vague mention one thousand whites and savages. The supply of provisions for so great a number renders it improbable; but, in answer to this, I have been informed by the most credible in this neighborhood, that strangers, supposed to be from Detroit, have been this winter among the disaffected inhabitants, and have removed with them. If you have authority to call out the militia, in proportion to the exigence of the times, I think it of great importance that a considerable number of men should be immediately embodied and sent forward to meet the enemy; for it cannot be expected that the volunteers will long continue in service, and I find that the recruiting the three companies goes on too slowly to expect a seasonable supply from them of any considerable number. If you have not authority to call the necessary aid of militia, you, no doubt, will apply to the honorable the Council, and may furnish them with my sentiments, and to the Board of War for arms and ammunition. With ten men here, under the command of Lieutenant Cluggage, in Continental service until the 1st of December next, I intend to move forward as soon as the arms, ammunition, and other things come forward, to afford an escort to Sinking Spring Valley, where I shall be glad to meet as great a number of militia as you will station there, to enable me to erect a stockade, to secure the works so necessary to the public service and give confidence to the frontier inhabitants, by affording an asylum for their women and children. These objects, I doubt not, you will think worthy your immediate attention and utmost exertion, which, I can a.s.sure you,--making the fullest allowance for the timidity of some and credulity of others,--is a very serious matter; for without immediate aid the frontiers will be evacuated, for all that I have been able to say has been of no avail with the fugitives I have met on the roads,--a most distressing sight, of men, women, and children, flying through fear of a cruel enemy.

I am, respectfully, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

DANIEL ROBERDEAU.

The enclosure spoken of in Roberdeau's letter was a note from Robert Smith to Robert Cluggage, of which the following is a copy:--

SIR:--Be pleased to send expresses to Lieutenant Carothers by the first opportunity, to give him some account of insurrections on the South Mountain, and likewise to inspect very closely into who is abroad at this time and upon what occasion, as there is a suspicion, by information, of other insurrections rising in other parts of the county of c.u.mberland; and in so doing you will oblige your friend to serve,

ROBERT SMITH.

_April 23, 1778._

The letter of Gen. Roberdeau, as well as Smith's, were sent to President Wharton by Lieutenant Carothers, enclosed in another of his own dated at Carlisle, on the 27th of April.

Previous to this, however, he sent a letter to the Council, dated on the 24th, in which he speaks of the deplorable condition of the frontier and the constant alarms from the tories. He said:--

The marching cla.s.ses of the fifth battalion I have been obliged to send up to Sinking Valley and Bald Eagle, which will amount to near seventy privates. The frontiers in those parts have been greatly alarmed of late by a number of tories who have banded together, threatening vengeance to all who have taken the oath of allegiance to the States. This moment I have received an express from Kishicoquillas for a supply of arms, and that Colonel McElevy, of Bedford county, came there express himself, with an account that a body of tories, near three hundred and twenty, in and above Standing Stone, had collected themselves together and driven a number of the inhabitants from Standing Stone Town. Immediately Colonel Buchanan and Colonel Brown marched off with a few men who could be got equipped, and we are waiting with patience the issue.

General Roberdeau wrote to Council on the 27th of April, after Captain Blair's return, as follows:--

_Sinking Spring Valley, April 27, 1778._

SIR:--I have little more time to refer you to the enclosed examination, taken in great haste, but correct as it respects the testimony. The confiscation of the effects of the disaffected in these parts is very irregular, and the brutality offered to the wives and children of some of them, as I have been informed, in taking from them even their wearing apparel, is shocking. I wish the magistrates were furnished with the late law respecting confiscation, and that they were more capable ministers of justice; the one I have seen is such a specimen of the popular election of these officers as I expected. I am happy to inform you that a very late discovery of a new vein promises the most ample supply; but I am very deficient in workmen. Mr. Glen is with me, to direct the making and burning of bricks, and is to come up to build a furnace, by which time I expect to be in such forwardness as to afford an ample supply to the army. The want of provision I dread notwithstanding the active endeavors of Mr. Brown, for it is scarcely to be got; therefore I beg leave to refer you to a hint on this subject in my letter from Carlisle. Of forty militia, I have, at most, seven with me, which r.e.t.a.r.ds building a stockade to give confidence to the inhabitants, who were all on the wing before I reached this. I send Richard Weston, under guard, to Carlisle jail, to wait your orders. He is conducted by Lieutenant John Means, of the militia. The inhabitants are hunting the other insurgents, and hope they will all be taken, but wish any other the trouble of examining them, as my hands are full. I am, with respectful salutations to Council, sir,

Y^r most ob^t, humb^l serv^t,

DAN^L ROBERDEAU.

The general speaks of the tory Hess (in his first letter) as if he had been forced to confess. This is an error. Hess made a voluntary confession after the return of Captain Blair, and after some of Blair's men had partially hung him and let him off.

The statement that McElevy _reported_ at Kishicoquillas that three hundred and twenty tories had driven off some of the inhabitants of Standing Stone Town is no doubt true enough, but no such occurrence ever took place. The fears of the people no doubt prompted McElevy to exaggerate, in order to get aid forthwith. Shortly after the arrival of Buchanan and Brown at Standing Stone, the Blair expedition returned, so that their services were not required.

General Roberdeau complained of the manner in which confiscations were conducted. He was grossly misinformed. The facts in the case are simply these:--On the receipt of the news of the disasters met by the tories at Kittaning, many of the tory families fled, leaving every thing behind them. These articles, even if wearing apparel was included, could not well escape confiscation unless they were pitched into the street. There is no instance on record of the women and children of tories having any thing like wearing-apparel taken from them. If such acts were committed, they were without the sanction of the officers or the people, by outlaws who lived by plunder, who may be found in any community, and for whose acts most a.s.suredly the patriots should not have been held accountable.

General Roberdeau's stay at the mines must have been brief. The next we hear of him is in a letter to Vice-President Bryan, dated at York, on the 30th of May of the same year. The direction of affairs at the mines was probably left in the hands of Lowrie and Cluggage.

It is altogether uncertain how long the mines were carried on by government, but not longer, probably, than till the fall of 1779; and what the total yield of lead was during that time we cannot ascertain.

In one place in the Records we find an order forwarded to one of the sub-lieutenants of the county for five hundred pounds; and we also hear that quant.i.ties were issued to the militia at sundry times. There must have been some kind of a bargain existing between government and Roberdeau for taking out the lead, for, in a letter to Vice-President Bryan for some pay due him, he says, "My late engagement in the lead-works has proved a moth to my circulating cash, and obliged me to make free with a friend in borrowing." He also says, in a letter to President Reed, bearing date November 10, 1779:--

SIR:--Permit me to ask the favor of you to make my request known to the honorable Board of your Presidence that they would be pleased this day to order me payment for the ten hundred pounds of lead delivered to your order some months ago. The price of that article is so enormous that I should blush to make a demand, but my necessity keeps equal pace with the rapid depreciation of our money; and particularly as I purpose leaving the city to-morrow, dependence has been had on the money in question, for my advances are insupportably great, for my defected purpose of supplying lead to Continent, which, entirely through default of Congress in not furnishing the necessary defences, has been entirely stopped, as the honorable the a.s.sembly have been informed. After the most diligent inquiry, I cannot find less than six dollars per pound demanded for lead by the quant.i.ty,--a price which, Mr. Peters just now informed me, the Board of War was willing to give.

This epistle near about fixes the time of the abandonment of the mines; and it also shows that lead commanded rather an exorbitant price at that time--payable, of course, in Continental funds.

In 1779, Sinking Spring Valley contained, according to an anonymous writer, "sixty or seventy families, living in log-houses." The princ.i.p.al portion of these were foreigners, who were taken there to work the mines. After Roberdeau's project had fallen to the ground, in consequence of the scarcity of the ore and the immense expense of mining and melting it, these miners attempted for a while to carry on operations for themselves. Their close proximity to the Indians, and the fact that several incursions were made into the valley by the savages in search of plunder and scalps, made those men, unused to border life, quit, and seek refuge in the Atlantic cities. The fort was evacuated by the government militia. Nevertheless it was still a place of refuge, and was used by the settlers of Sinking Valley and Bald Eagle up to the close of the war.

In 1781, Jacob Roller, Jr., and a man named Bebault, were ma.s.sacred by Indians in Sinking Valley. Few particulars of this ma.s.sacre are known, and many contradictory stories still exist in regard to it. We give Mr.

Maguire's version of it, but would at the same time state that he did not vouch for the authenticity of it, as he gathered it from the exaggerated rumors that in those days followed the recital of current events.

Roller, it appears was an active and energetic frontier-man, bold, fearless, and daring; and the common belief was that his unerring rifle had ended the days of many a red-skin. Be that as it may, however, it is certain that the Indians knew him, and marked him out for a victim long before they succeeded in despatching him. Several small roving bands were in the habit of coming down into the valley after the mines were abandoned; but no favorable opportunity offered for a long time to kill Roller.

On one occasion, four of the settlers had met at Roller's house for the purpose of going on a hunt for deer. Early in the morning, when just ready to start, Roller heard the breaking of a twig near his cabin. He peered out into the deep gloom of the misty morning, and discovered three Indians crouching near an oak-tree. It was very evident that the Indians had not been close enough to the house to ascertain the number within, and the inmates were in a state of doubt as to the number of savages. Profound silence was observed, and it was resolved to shoot from the window as soon as the light was sufficiently strong to render their aim certain. The Indians were evidently waiting for Roller to come out of his house. At length, when they thought the proper time had come, the settlers gathered at the window, and thrust out their rifles as silently as possible. The quick eyes of the savages saw, even by the hazy light, that there were too many muzzles to belong to one man, and they took to the woods with all the speed they could command, leaving behind them a quant.i.ty of venison and dried corn, and a British rifle.

On another occasion, Roller had an encounter with a single Indian in the woods, which probably stands unparalleled in the history of personal encounters between a savage and a white man. Roller left home about seven o'clock in the morning, in search of deer. He had ranged along the edge of the mountain an hour or two, when he heard a rifle-shot but a short distance from him, and a minute had scarcely elapsed before a wounded doe came in the direction where he stood. To shoot it was but the work of an instant, because he supposed that one of his neighbors had wounded it; for the thought of the presence of Indians never entered his head. Yet it appears that it was an Indian who fired. The Indian mistook the crack of Boiler's rifle for that of a companion left at the base of the mountain. Under this impression, the Indian, anxious to secure the doe, and Roller, intent on bleeding her, both neglected one of the first precautions of the day,--viz.: to reload their rifles. Roller was leaning over the doe, when he heard the crust of the snow breaking in a thicket near him. He jumped to his feet, and was confronted by the Indian,--a tall, muscular fellow, who was quite as large as Roller. The savage, well aware of the fact that neither of the rifles were loaded, and probably satisfied in meeting "a foeman worthy of his steel," deliberately placed his gun against a tree by the side of Roller's, and, drawing his tomahawk, he cast a glance of savage delight at the white man before him, which seemed to imply that he would soon show him who was the better man of the two. Roller, antic.i.p.ating his intentions, drew his tomahawk and stood on the defensive. The savage made a spring, when Roller jumped aside, and the Indian pa.s.sed. The latter suddenly wheeled, when Roller struck him upon the elbow of the uplifted hand, and the hatchet fell. Fearing to stoop to regain it, the savage drew his knife, and turned upon Roller. They clinched, and a fearful struggle ensued. Roller held the savage's right arm, so as to render useless his knife, while the Indian grasped firmly the hand in which Roller held his hatchet, and in this manner they struggled until they were both tripped by the carca.s.s of the doe; still both retained their hold. Roller fortunately grasped his knife, lying beside the doe, with his left hand, and thrust it into the side of the Indian. The struggle now became terrible, and by one powerful effort the savage loosened himself and sprang to his feet; but Roller was as quick as he was. In attempting to close again, the savage stabbed Roller in the shoulder and in the arm. Roller had dropped his hatchet in regaining his feet, and the combat was now a deadly one with knives.

They cut and thrust at each other until their buckskin hunting-shirts were literally cut into ribbons and the crusted snow was dyed with their blood. At length, faint with the loss of blood, the combat ceased, by mutual consent, as it were, and the Indian, loosening himself from Roller's grasp, took his rifle and disappeared. Roller stanched, with frozen snow and some tow, the only dangerous wound he had, and managed to reach his home. He was stabbed in four or five places, and it was some weeks before he fully recovered from his wounds. The skeleton of the savage, with his rifle by his side, was found the succeeding summer on the top of Warrior Ridge.

The time of Roller's death is not positively known. Mr. Maguire thought it was in the fall of 1781. From subsequent evidences, three Indians came down the mountain, avoiding the fort of Jacob Roller, Sr., which was located at the head of Sinking Valley, and pa.s.sed on down through the valley to the house of Bebault, whom they tomahawked and scalped.

From thence they went to the house of Jacob Roller, Jr., who was alone at the time, his family being at his father's fort. He was murdered and scalped while at work in his corn-field. His absence from the fort at night created alarm, and early next morning a party went down to his house to see if any thing had befallen him. While searching for him, one of the men discovered blood on the bars, which soon led to the discovery of his body in the field. From the footprints in the ground, it was plain that the murder had been committed by two men and a boy between twelve and fourteen years of age. Roller had been shot and scalped, his head shockingly mangled with a tomahawk, and the region of his heart was gashed with a dozen cuts and stabs made by a sharp scalping-knife. The inference was that, after shooting Roller, the men induced the lad to tomahawk and stab him. In other words, they gave him a lesson in butchery and courage.

Bebault was found shot and scalped, although still alive,--a shocking spectacle to look upon. He was so much exhausted by the loss of blood as to be unable to give any account of the transaction.

The bodies of both were taken to the fort and buried, and, as soon as possible, a large party, consisting of the Rollers, Beattys, Rickets, &c, started in pursuit. They followed the trail for nearly fifty miles, but at last lost it, and were compelled to return without overtaking the murderers.