The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada Part 21

[Footnote 316: MS. Letter--Ourry to Bouquet, 20 June, 1763.]

[Footnote 317: Extract from a Letter of Bouquet to Amherst, Bedford, July 26th, 1763: "The troops & Convoy arrived here yesterday.... Three men have been ma.s.sacred near Shippensburg since we left, but we have not perceived yet any of the Villains.... Having observed in our march that the Highlanders lose themselves in the woods as soon as they go out of the road, and cannot on that account be employed as Flankers, I have commissioned a person here to procure me about thirty woodsmen to march with us.... This is very irregular, but the circ.u.mstances render it so absolutely necessary that I hope you will approve it."]

[Footnote 318: MS. Letters--Bouquet to Amherst, Aug. 5, 6. Penn. Gaz. 1809-1810. Gent. Mag. x.x.xIII. 487. London Mag. for 1763, 545. Account of Bouquet's Expedition. Annual Register for 1763, 28. Mante, 493.

The accounts of this action, published in the journals of the day, excited much attention, from the wild and novel character of this species of warfare. A well-written description of the battle, together with a journal of Bouquet's expedition of the succeeding year, was published in a thin quarto, with ill.u.s.trations from the pencil of West. The writer was Dr. William Smith, of Philadelphia, and not, as has usually been thought, the geographer Thomas Hutchins. See the reprint, Clarke's Historical Series, Vol. I. A French translation of the narrative was published at Amsterdam in 1769.

Extract from a Letter--Fort Pitt, August 12 (Penn. Gaz. No. 1810):-- "We formed a Circle round our Convoy and Wounded; upon which the Savages collected themselves, and continued whooping and popping at us all the Evening. Next Morning, having mustered all their Force, they began the War-whoop, attacking us in Front, when the Colonel feigned a Retreat, which encouraged the Indians to an eager Pursuit, while the Light Infantry and Grenadiers rushed out on their Right and Left Flanks, attacking them where they little expected it; by which Means a great Number of them were killed; and among the rest, Keelyuskung, a Delaware Chief, who the Night before, and that Morning, had been Blackguarding us in English: We lost one Man in the Rear, on our March the Day after.

"In other Letters from Fort Pitt, it is mentioned that, to a Man, they were resolved to defend the Garrison (if the Troops had not arrived), as long as any Ammunition, and Provision to support them, were left; and that then they would have fought their Way through, or died in the Attempt, rather than have been made Prisoners by such perfidious, cruel, and Blood-thirsty h.e.l.l-hounds."

See Appendix, D.]

[Footnote 319: Extract from a Letter--Fort Pitt, August 12 (Penn. Gaz. No. 1810): "As you will probably have the Accounts of these Engagements from the Gentlemen that were in them, I shall say no more than this, that it is the general Opinion, the Troops behaved with the utmost Intrepidity, and the Indians were never known to behave so fiercely. You may be sure the Sight of the Troops was very agreeable to our poor Garrison, being penned up in the Fort from the 27th of May to the 9th Instant, and the Barrack Rooms crammed with Men, Women, and Children, tho' providentially no other Disorder ensued than the Small-pox.--From the 16th of June to the 28th of July, we were pestered with the Enemy; sometimes with their Flags, demanding Conferences; at other Times threatening, then soothing, and offering their Cordial Advice, for us to evacuate the Place; for that they, the Delawares, tho' our dear Friends and Brothers, could no longer protect us from the Fury of Legions of other Nations, that were coming from the Lakes, &c., to destroy us. But, finding that neither had any Effect on us, they mustered their whole force, in Number about 400, and began a most furious Fire from all Quarters on the Fort, which they continued for four Days, and great Part of the Nights, viz., from the 28th of July to the last.--Our Commander was wounded by an Arrow in the Leg, and no other Person, of any Note, hurt, tho' the b.a.l.l.s were whistling very thick about our Ears. Nine Rank and File wounded, and one Hulings having his Leg broke, was the whole of our Loss during this hot Firing; tho' we have Reason to think that we killed several of our loving Brethren, notwithstanding their Alertness in skulking behind the Banks of the Rivers, &c.--These Gentry, seeing they could not take the Fort, sheered off and we heard no more of them till the Account of the above Engagements came to hand, when we were convinced that our good Brothers did us this second Act of Friendship.--What they intend next, G.o.d knows, but am afraid they will disperse in small Parties, among the Inhabitants, if not well defended."]

[Footnote 320: Extract from a MS. Letter--Sir J. Amherst to Colonel Bouquet:-- "New York, 31st August, 1763.

"The Disposition you made for the Reception of the Indians, the Second Day, was indeed very wisely Concerted, and as happily Executed; I am pleased with Every part of your Conduct on the Occasion, which being so well seconded by the Officers and Soldiers under your Command, Enabled you not only to Protect your Large Convoy, but to rout a Body of Savages that would have been very formidable against any Troops but such as you had with you."]

[Footnote 321: MS. Minutes of Conference with the Six Nations and others, at Johnson Hall, Sept. 1763. Letters of Sir William Johnson.]

[Footnote 322: MS. Harrisburg Papers.]

[Footnote 323: Extract from a MS. Letter--Sir W. Johnson to Sir J. Amherst:-- "Johnson Hall, July 8th, 1763.

"I Cannot Conclude without Representing to Your Excellency the great Panic and uneasiness into which the Inhabitants of these parts are cast, which I have endeavored to Remove by every Method in my power, to prevent their Abandoning their Settlements from their apprehensions of the Indians: As they in General Confide much in my Residence, they are hitherto Prevented from taking that hasty Measure, but should I be Obliged to retire (which I hope will not be the case), not only my Own Tenants, who are upwards of 120 Families, but all the Rest would Immediately follow the Example, which I am Determined against doing 'till the last Extremity, as I know it would prove of general bad Consequence."]

[Footnote 324: Penn. Gaz. No. 1809.]

[Footnote 325: MS. Letter--Amherst to Egremont, October 13. Two anonymous letters from officers at Fort Niagara, September 16 and 17. Life of Mary Jemison, Appendix. MS. Johnson Papers.

One of the actors in the tragedy, a Seneca warrior, named Blacksnake, was living a few years since at a very advanced age. He described the scene with great animation to a friend of the writer; and, as he related how the English were forced over the precipice, his small eyes glittered like those of the serpent whose name he bore.

Extract from a Letter--Niagara, September 16 (Penn. Gaz. No. 1815): "On the first hearing of the Firing by the Convoy, Capt. Johnston, and three Subalterns, marched with about 80 Men, mostly of Gage's Light Infantry, who were in a little Camp adjacent; they had scarce Time to form when the Indians appeared at the above Pa.s.s; our People fired briskly upon them, but was instantly surrounded, and the Captain who commanded mortally wounded the first Fire; the 3 Subalterns also were soon after killed, on which a general Confusion ensued. The Indians rushed in on all Sides and cut about 60 or 70 Men in Pieces, including the Convoy: Ten of our Men are all we can yet learn have made their Escape; they came here through the Woods Yesterday. From many Circ.u.mstances, it is believed the Senecas have a chief Hand in this Affair."

Extract from a Letter--Niagara, September 17 (Penn. Gaz. No. 1815): "Wednesday the 14th Inst. a large Body of Indians, some say 300, others 4 or 500, came down upon the Carrying-Place, attacked the Waggon Escort, which consisted of a Serjeant and 24 Men. This small Body immediately became a Sacrifice, only two Waggoners escaped. Two Companies of Light Infantry (the General's and La Hunt's), that were encamped at the Lower Landing, hearing the Fire, instantly rushed out to their Relief, headed by Lieuts. George Campbell, and Frazier, Lieutenant Rosco, of the Artillery, and Lieutenant Deaton, of the Provincials; this Party had not marched above a Mile and Half when they were attacked, surrounded, and almost every Man cut to Pieces; the Officers were all killed, it is reported, on the Enemy's first Fire; the Savages rushed down upon them in three Columns."]

[Footnote 326: MS. Diary of an officer in Wilkins's Expedition against the Indians at Detroit.]

[Footnote 327: "I have often seen them get up early in the morning at this season, walk hastily out, and look anxiously to the woods, and snuff the autumnal winds with the highest rapture; then return into the house, and cast a quick and attentive look at the rifle, which was always suspended to a joist by a couple of buck's horns, or little forks. His hunting dog, understanding the intentions of his master, would wag his tail, and, by every blandishment in his power, express his readiness to accompany him to the woods."--Doddridge, Notes on Western Va. and Pa., 124.

For a view of the state of the frontier, see also Kercheval, Hist. of the Valley of Virginia; and Smyth, Travels in America.]

[Footnote 328: For an account of the population of Pennsylvania, see Rupp's two histories of York and Lancaster, and of Lebanon and Berks Counties. See also the History of c.u.mberland County, and the Penn. Hist. Coll.]

[Footnote 329: "There are many Letters in Town, in which the Distresses of the Frontier Inhabitants are set forth in a most moving and striking Manner; but as these Letters are pretty much the same, and it would be endless to insert the whole, the following is the Substance of some of them, as near as we can recollect, viz.:-- "That the Indians had set Fire to Houses, Barns, Corn, Hay, and, in short, to every Thing that was combustible, so that the whole Country seemed to be in one general Blaze--That the Miseries and Distresses of the poor People were really shocking to Humanity, and beyond the Power of Language to describe--That Carlisle was become the Barrier, not a single Individual being beyond it--That every Stable and Hovel in the Town was crowded with miserable Refugees, who were reduced to a State of Beggary and Despair; their Houses, Cattle and Harvest destroyed; and from a plentiful, independent People, they were become real Objects of Charity and Commiseration--That it was most dismal to see the Streets filled with People, in whose Countenances might be discovered a Mixture of Grief, Madness and Despair; and to hear, now and then, the Sighs and Groans of Men, the disconsolate Lamentations of Women, and the Screams of Children, who had lost their nearest and dearest Relatives: And that on both Sides of the Susquehannah, for some Miles, the Woods were filled with poor Families, and their Cattle, who make Fires, and live like the Savages."--Penn. Gaz. No. 1805.

Extract from a MS. Letter, signature erased--Staunton, July 26:-- "Since the reduction of the Regiment, I have lived in the country, which enables me to enform yr Ho^{nr} of some particulars, I think it is a duty inc.u.mbent on me to do. I can a.s.sert that in eight years' service, I never knew such a general consternation as the late irruption of Indians has occasioned. Should they make a second attempt, I am a.s.sured the country will be laid desolate, which I attribute to the following reasons. The sudden, great, and unexpected slaughter of the people; their being dest.i.tute of arms and ammunition; the country Lieut. being at a distance and not exerting himself, his orders are neglected; the most of the militia officers being unfit persons, or unwilling, not to say afraid to meet an Enemy; too busy with their harvest to run a risk in the field. The Inhabitants left without protection, without a person to stead them, have nothing to do but fly, as the Indians are saving and caressing all the negroes they take; should it produce an insurrection, it may be attended with the most serious consequences."]

[Footnote 330: "To Col. Francis Lee, or, in his Absence, to the next Commanding Officer in Loudoun County." (Penn. Gaz. No. 1805).

"I examined the Express that brought this Letter from Winchester to Loudoun County, and he informed me that he was employed as an Express from Fort c.u.mberland to Winchester, which Place he left the 4^{th} Instant, and that pa.s.sing from the Fort to Winchester, he saw lying on the Road a Woman, who had been just scalped, and was then in the Agonies of Death, with her Brains hanging over her Skull; his Companions made a Proposal to knock her on the Head, to put an End to her Agony, but this Express apprehending the Indians were near at Hand, and not thinking it safe to lose any Time, rode off, and left the poor Woman in the Situation they found her."

The circ.u.mstances referred to in the text are mentioned in several pamphlets of the day, on the authority of James Smith, a prominent leader of the rangers.]

[Footnote 331: Her absence was soon perceived, on which one of the Indians remarked that he would bring the cow back to her calf, and, seizing the child, forced it to scream violently. This proving ineffectual, he dashed out its brains against a tree. This was related by one of the captives who was taken to the Indian villages and afterwards redeemed.]

[Footnote 332: Doddridge, Notes, 221. MS. Narrative, written by Colonel Stuart from the relation of Glendenning's wife.]

[Footnote 333: Gordon, Hist. Penn. Appendix. Bard, Narrative.

"Several small parties went on to different parts of the settlements: it happened that three of them, whom I was well acquainted with, came from the neighborhood of where I was taken from--they were young fellows, perhaps none of them more than twenty years of age,--they came to a school-house, where they murdered and scalped the master, and all the scholars, except one, who survived after he was scalped, a boy about ten years old, and a full cousin of mine. I saw the Indians when they returned home with the scalps; some of the old Indians were very much displeased at them for killing so many children, especially Neeppaugh-whese, or Night Walker, an old chief, or half king,--he ascribed it to cowardice, which was the greatest affront he could offer them."--M'Cullough, Narrative.

Extract from an anonymous Letter--Philadelphia, August 30, 1764: "The Lad found alive in the School, and said to be since dead, is, I am informed, yet alive, and in a likely Way to recover."]

[Footnote 334: Extract from a MS. Letter--Thomas Cresap to Governor Sharpe:-- "Old Town, July 15th, 1763.

"May it please y^{r} Excellency: "I take this opportunity in the height of confusion to acquaint you with our unhappy and most wretched situation at this time, being in hourly expectation of being ma.s.sacred by our barbarous and inhuman enemy the Indians, we having been three days successively attacked by them, viz. the 13th, 14th, and this instant.... I have enclosed a list of the desolate men and women, and children who have fled to my house, which is enclosed by a small stockade for safety, by which you see what a number of poor souls, dest.i.tute of every necessary of life, are here penned up, and likely to be butchered without immediate relief and a.s.sistance, and can expect none, unless from the province to which they belong. I shall submit to your wiser judgment the best and most effectual method for such relief, and shall conclude with hoping we shall have it in time."

Extract from a Letter--Frederick Town, July 19, 1763 (Penn. Gaz. No. 1807):-- "Every Day, for some Time past, has offered the melancholy Scene of poor distressed Families driving downwards, through this Town, with their Effects, who have deserted their Plantations, for Fear of falling into the cruel Hands of our Savage Enemies, now daily seen in the Woods. And never was Panic more general or forcible than that of the Back Inhabitants, whose Terrors, at this Time, exceed what followed on the Defeat of General Braddock, when the Frontiers lay open to the Incursions of both French and Indians."]

[Footnote 335: Extract from a Letter--Winchester, Virginia, June 22d (Penn. Gaz. No. 1801):-- "Last Night I reached this Place. I have been at Fort c.u.mberland several Days, but the Indians having killed nine People, and burnt several Houses near Fort Bedford, made me think it prudent to remove from those Parts, from which, I suppose, near 500 Families have run away within this week.--I a.s.sure you it was a most melancholy Sight, to see such Numbers of poor People, who had abandoned their Settlements in such Consternation and Hurry, that they had hardly any thing with them but their Children. And what is still worse, I dare say there is not Money enough amongst the whole Families to maintain a fifth Part of them till the Fall; and none of the poor Creatures can get a Hovel to shelter them from the Weather, but lie about scattered in the Woods."]

[Footnote 336: Votes of a.s.sembly, V. 259.]

[Footnote 337: Extract from a MS. Letter--John Elder to Governor Penn:-- "Paxton, 4th August, 1763.

"Sir: "The service your Hon^{r} was pleased to appoint me to, I have performed to the best of my power; tho' not with success equal to my desires. However, both companies will, I imagine, be complete in a few days: there are now upwards of 30 men in each, exclusive of officers, who are now and have been employed since their enlistment in such service as is thought most safe and encouraging to the Frontier inhabitants, who are here and everywhere else in the back countries quite sunk and dispirited, so that it's to be feared that on any attack of the enemy, a considerable part of the country will be evacuated, as all seem inclinable to seek safety rather in flight than in opposing the Savage Foe."]

[Footnote 338: Sparks, Writings of Washington, II. 340.]

[Footnote 339: Pet.i.tion of the Inhabitants of the Great Cove. Smith, Narrative. This is a highly interesting account of the writer's captivity among the Indians, and his adventures during several succeeding years. In the war of the Revolution, he acted the part of a zealous patriot. He lived until the year 1812, about which time, the western Indians having broken out into hostility, he gave his country the benefit of his ample experience, by publishing a treatise on the Indian mode of warfare. In Kentucky, where he spent the latter part of his life, he was much respected, and several times elected to the legislature. This narrative may be found in Drake's Tragedies of the Wilderness, and in several other similar collections.]

[Footnote 340: Penn. Gaz. No. 1811.]

[Footnote 341: Penn. Gaz. Nos. 1816-1818. MS. Letter--Graydon to Bird, October 12.]

[Footnote 342: Extract from a MS. Letter--Paxton, October 23:-- "The woman was roasted, and had two hinges in her hands, supposed to be put in red hot, and several of the men had awls thrust into their eyes, and spears, arrows, pitchforks, etc., sticking in their bodies."]

[Footnote 343: MS. Elder Papers. Chapman, Hist. Wyoming, 70. Miner, Hist. Wyoming, 56.]

[Footnote 344: It has already been stated that the Quakers were confined to the eastern parts of the province. That their security was owing to their local situation, rather than to the kind feeling of the Indians towards them, is shown by the fact, that, of the very few of their number who lived in exposed positions, several were killed. One of them in particular, John Fincher, seeing his house about to be attacked, went out to meet the warriors, declared that he was a Quaker, and begged for mercy. The Indians laughed, and struck him dead with a tomahawk.]

[Footnote 345: MS. Gage Papers.

Extract from a MS. Letter--William Smith, Jr., to ----: "New York, 22d Nov. 1763.

"Is not Mr. Amherst the happiest of men to get out of this Trouble so seasonably? At last he was obliged to submit, to give the despised Indians so great a mark of his Consideration, as to confess he could not defend us, and to make a requisition of 1400 Provincials by the Spring--600 more he demands from New Jersey. Our People refused all but a few for immediate Defence, conceiving that all the Northern Colonies ought to contribute equally, and upon an apprehension that he has called for too insufficient an aid....

"Is not Gage to be pitied? The war will be a tedious one, nor can it be glorious, even tho' attended with Success. Instead of decisive Battles, woodland skirmishes--instead of Colours and Cannon, our Trophies will be stinking scalps.--Heaven preserve you, my Friend, from a War conducted by a spirit of Murder rather than of brave and generous offence."]

[Footnote 346: MS. Letter--Gage to Johnson, Dec. 25, 1763. Penn. Gaz. No. 1827.]

[Footnote 347: MS. Lettre de M. Neyon de la Valliere, a tous les nations de la Belle Riviere et du Lac, etc.]

[Footnote 348: The following is Pontiac's message to Gladwyn, written for him by a Canadian: "Mon Frere,--La Parole que mon Pere m'a envoyee, pour faire la paix, je l'ai acceptee, tous nos jeunes gens ont enterre leurs Ca.s.se-tetes. Je pense que tu oublieras les mauvaises choses qui sont pa.s.sees il y a longtemps; de meme j'oublierai ce que tu peux m'avoir fait pour ne penser que de bonnes, moi, les Saulteurs (Ojibwas), les Hurons, nous devons t'aller parler quand tu nous demanderas. Fais moi la reponse. Je t'envoyes ce conseil (Q. collier?) afin que tu le voyes. Si tu es bien comme moi, tu me feras reponse. Je te souhaite le bonjour.

(Signe) "PONDIAC."

Gladwyn's answer is also in French. He says that he will communicate the message to the General; and doubts not that if he, Pontiac, is true to his words, all will be well.

The following is from the letter in which Gladwyn announces the overtures of peace to Amherst (Detroit, Nov. 1): "Yesterday M. Dequindre, a volunteer, arrived with despatches from the Commandant of the Illinois, copies of which I enclose you.... The Indians are pressing for peace.... I don't imagine there will be any danger of their breaking out again, provided some examples are made of our good subjects, the French, who set them on.... They have lost between 80 and 90 of their best warriors; but if y^{r} Excellency still intends to punish them further for their barbarities, it may easily be done without any expense to the Crown, by permitting a free sale of rum, which will destroy them more effectually than fire and sword."]

[Footnote 349: Extract from a MS. Letter--Sir W. Johnson to ----: "For G.o.d's Sake exert yourselves like Men whose Honour & every thing dear to them is now at stake; the General has great Expectations from the success of your Party, & indeed so have all People here, & I hope they will not be mistaken,--in Order to Encourage your party I will, out of my own Pocket, pay to any of the Party 50 Dollars for the Head Men of the Delawares there, viz., Onuperaquedra, and 50 Dollars more for the Head of Long Coat, alias ----, in which case they must either bring them alive or their whole Heads; the Money shall be paid to the Man who takes or brings me them, or their Heads,--this I would have you tell to the Head men of the Party, as it will make them more eager."]

[Footnote 350: MS. Johnson Papers.]

[Footnote 351: Extract from a MS. Letter--George Croghan to the Board of Trade: "They can with great ease enter our colonies, and cut off our frontier settlements, and thereby lay waste a large tract of country, which indeed they have effected in the s.p.a.ce of four months, in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Jerseys, on whose frontiers they have killed and captivated not less than two thousand of his Majesty's subjects, and drove some thousands to beggary and the greatest distress, besides burning to the ground nine forts or blockhouses in the country, and killing a number of his Majesty's troops and traders."]

[Footnote 352: Extract from the Declaration of Lazarus Stewart:-- "Did we not brave the summer's heat and the winter's cold, and the savage tomahawk, while the Inhabitants of Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, Bucks, and Chester, 'ate, drank, and were merry'?

"If a white man kill an Indian, it is a murder far exceeding any crime upon record; he must not be tried in the county where he lives, or where the offence was committed, but in Philadelphia, that he may be tried, convicted, sentenced and hung without delay. If an Indian kill a white man, it was the act of an ignorant Heathen, perhaps in liquor; alas, poor innocent! he is sent to the friendly Indians that he may be made a Christian."]

[Footnote 353: And when the Lord thy G.o.d shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them."--Deuteronomy, vii. 2.]

[Footnote 354: So promising a theme has not escaped the notice of novelists, and it has been adopted by Dr. Bird in his spirited story of Nick of the Woods.]

[Footnote 355: See Appendix, E.]

[Footnote 356: For an account of the Conestoga Indians, see Penn. Hist. Coll. 390. It is extremely probable, as shown by Mr. Shea, that they were the remnant of the formidable people called Andastes, who spoke a dialect of the Iroquois, but were deadly enemies of the Iroquois proper, or Five Nations, by whom they were nearly destroyed about the year 1672.]

[Footnote 357: On one occasion, a body of Indians approached Paxton on Sunday, and sent forward one of their number, whom the English supposed to be a friend, to reconnoitre. The spy reported that every man in the church, including the preacher, had a rifle at his side; upon which the enemy withdrew, and satisfied themselves with burning a few houses in the neighborhood. The papers of Mr. Elder were submitted to the writer's examination by his son, an aged and esteemed citizen of Harrisburg.]

[Footnote 358: The above account of the ma.s.sacre is chiefly drawn from the narrative of Matthew Smith himself. This singular paper was published by Mr. Redmond Conyngham, of Lancaster, in the Lancaster Intelligencer for 1843. Mr. Conyngham states that he procured it from the son of Smith, for whose information it had been written. The account is partially confirmed by incidental allusions, in a letter written by another of the Paxton men, and also published by Mr. Conyngham. This gentleman employed himself with most unwearied diligence in collecting a voluminous ma.s.s of doc.u.ments, comprising, perhaps, every thing that could contribute to extenuate the conduct of the Paxton men; and to these papers, as published from time to time in the above-mentioned newspaper, reference will often be made.]

[Footnote 359: Haz. Pa. Reg. IX. 114.]

[Footnote 360: Papers published by Mr. Conyngham in the Lancaster Intelligencer.]

[Footnote 361: This anecdote was told to the writer by the son of Mr. Elder, and is also related by Mr. Conyngham.]

[Footnote 362: Deposition of Felix Donolly, keeper of Lancaster jail. Declaration of Lazarus Stewart, published by Mr. Conyngham. Rupp, Hist. of York and Lancaster Counties, 358. Heckewelder, Narrative of Moravian Missions, 79. See Appendix, E.

Soon after the ma.s.sacre, Franklin published an account of it at Philadelphia, which, being intended to strengthen the hands of government by exciting a popular sentiment against the rioters, is more rhetorical than accurate. The following is his account of the consummation of the act:-- "When the poor wretches saw they had no protection nigh, nor could possibly escape, they divided into their little families, the children clinging to the parents; they fell on their knees, protested their innocence, declared their love to the English, and that, in their whole lives, they had never done them injury; and in this posture they all received the hatchet!"

This is a pure embellishment of the fancy. The only persons present were the jailer and the rioters themselves, who unite in testifying that the Indians died with the stoicism which their race usually exhibit under such circ.u.mstances; and indeed, so sudden was the act, that there was no time for enacting the scene described by Franklin.]

[Footnote 363: Extract from a MS. Letter--Edward Shippen to Governor Penn:-- "Lancaster, 27th Dec., 1763, P. M.

"Honoured Sir:-- "I am to acquaint your Honour that between two and three of the Clock this afternoon, upwards of a hundred armed men from the Westward rode very fast into Town, turned their Horses into Mr. Slough's (an Innkeeper's) yard, and proceeded with the greatest precipitation to the Work-House, stove open the door and killed all the Indians, and then took to their Horses and rode off: all their business was done, & they were returning to their Horses before I could get halfway down to the Work-House. The Sheriff and Coroner however, and several others, got down as soon as the rioters, but could not prevail with them to stop their hands. Some people say they heard them declare they would proceed to the Province Island, & destroy the Indians there."]

[Footnote 364: Extract from a MS. Letter--John Hay, the sheriff, to Governor Penn:-- "They in a body left the town without offering any insults to the Inhabitants, & without putting it in the power of any one to take or molest any of them without danger of life to the person attempting it; of which both myself and the Coroner, by our opposition, were in great danger."]

[Footnote 365: Extract from a Letter--Rev. Mr. Elder to Colonel Burd:-- "Paxton, 1764.

"Lazarus Stewart is still threatened by the Philadelphia party; he and his friends talk of leaving--if they do, the province will lose some of their truest friends, and that by the faults of others, not their own; for if any cruelty was practised on the Indians at Conestogue or at Lancaster, it was not by his, or their hands. There is a great reason to believe that much injustice has been done to all concerned. In the contrariness of accounts, we must infer that much rests for support on the imagination or interest of the witness. The characters of Stewart and his friends were well established. Ruffians nor brutal they were not; humane, liberal and moral, nay, religious. It is evidently not the wish of the party to give Stewart a fair hearing. All he desires, is to be put on trial, at Lancaster, near the scenes of the horrible butcheries, committed by the Indians at Tulpehocken, &c., when he can have the testimony of the Scouts or Rangers, men whose services can never be sufficiently rewarded."]

[Footnote 366: Papers published by Mr. Conyngham.

Extract from the Declaration of Lazarus Stewart:-- "What I have done was done for the security of hundreds of settlers on the frontiers. The blood of a thousand of my fellow-creatures called for vengeance. As a Ranger, I sought the post of danger, and now you ask my life. Let me be tried where prejudice has not prejudged my case. Let my brave Rangers, who have stemmed the blast n.o.bly, and never flinched; let them have an equitable trial; they were my friends in the hour of danger--to desert them now were cowardice! What remains is to leave our cause with our G.o.d, and our guns."]

[Footnote 367: Loskiel, Hist. Moravian Missions, Part II. 211.]

[Footnote 368: MS. Letter--Bernard Grube to Governor Hamilton, Oct. 13.]

[Footnote 369: Votes of a.s.sembly, V. 284.]

[Footnote 370: Loskiel, Hist. Moravian Missions, Part II. 214. Heckewelder, Narrative of Missions, 75.]

[Footnote 371: Loskiel, Part II. 216.]

[Footnote 372: Remonstrance of the Frontier People to the Governor and a.s.sembly. See Votes of a.s.sembly, V. 313.

The "Declaration," which accompanied the "Remonstrance," contains the following pa.s.sage: "To protect and maintain these Indians at the public expense, while our suffering brethren on the frontiers are almost dest.i.tute of the necessaries of life, and are neglected by the public, is sufficient to make us mad with rage, and tempt us to do what nothing but the most violent necessity can vindicate."

See Appendix, E.]

[Footnote 373: MS Elder Papers The following verses are extracted from a poem, published at Philadelphia, by a partisan of the Paxton men, ent.i.tled, "THE CLOVEN FOOT DISCOVERED.

"Go on, good Christians, never spare To give your Indians Clothes to wear, Send 'em good Beef, and Pork, and Bread, Guns, Powder, Flints, and Store of Lead, To Shoot your Neighbours through the Head, Devoutly then, make Affirmation, You're Friends to George and British Nation, Encourage ev'ry friendly Savage, To murder, burn, destroy, and ravage, Fathers and Mothers here maintain, Whose Sons add Numbers to the slain, Of Scotch and Irish let them kill As many Thousands as they will, That you may lord it o'er the Land, And have the whole and sole command."]

[Footnote 374: This incident occurred during the French war, and is thus described by a Quaker eye-witness: "Some of the dead bodies were brought to Philadelphia in a wagon, in the time of the General Meeting of Friends there in December, with intent to animate the people to unite in preparations for war on the Indians. They were carried along the streets--many people following--cursing the Indians, and also the Quakers, because they would not join in war for their destruction. The sight of the dead bodies, and the outcry of the people, were very afflicting and shocking"--Watson, Annals of Phil 449 (Phil 1830).]

[Footnote 375: See Gordon, Hist. Penn. Chaps. XII.-XVIII.]

[Footnote 376: Loskiel, Part II. 218.]

[Footnote 377: MS. Letter--Penn to Gage, Dec. 31.]

[Footnote 378: Votes of a.s.sembly, V. 293.]

[Footnote 379: Extract from a MS. Letter--Governor Penn to Governor Colden:-- "Philadelphia, 5th January, 1764.

"Satisfied of the advantages arising from this measure, I have sent them thro' Jersey and your Government to Sir W. Johnson, & desire you will favour them with your protection and countenance, & give them the proper pa.s.ses for their journey to Sir William's Seat.

"I have recommended it, in the most pressing terms, to the a.s.sembly, to form a Bill that shall enable me to apprehend these seditious and barbarous Murderers, & to quell the like insurrections for the future."]

[Footnote 380: Loskiel, Part II. 220. Heckewelder, Narrative, 81.]