dead were scalped, and their houses burnt. This infamous procedure took place on the 14th of the month. Hearing of the deplorable act, the magistrates of Lancaster collected the residue of the helpless clan, men, women, and children, and placed them in one of the public buildings of the town for their protection. But on the 27th, a band of fifty of the fanatics went openly into the borough, and proceeding to the work-house where the Indians had been placed, broke open the doors, and with fury in their countenances recommenced the work of death. Nor did the people of Lancaster lift a finger, or the magistrates interfere, for their defence. "When the poor wretches saw they had no protection, and that they could not escape, and being without the least weapon of defence, they divided their little families, the children clinging to their parents; they fell on their faces, protested their innocence, declared their love to the English, and that, in their whole lives, they had never done them any injury; and in this posture they all received the hatchet. Men, women, and children infants clinging to the breast inhumanly butchered in cold blood."* were all But the vengeance of the fanatics was not satiated. Like the tigers of the forest, having tasted blood, they became hungry for more; and having heard that the fugitives from Wyoming, feeling Proud. Vide also Gordon. themselves unsafe at Gnaddenhutten, had repaired to Philadelphia, the zealots set their faces in that direction, and marched upon the capital for the avowed purpose of putting those Indians to death also. Their numbers increased to an insurgent army. Great consternation prevailed in Philadelphia on their approach. The poor Indians themselves prayed that they might be sent to England for safety; but this could not be done. An attempt was then made by the government to send them to the Mohawk country, via New-York, for the protection of Sir William Johnson; but the civil authorities of New-York objected, and the fugitives were marched back to Philadelphia. Whereupon the insurgents embodied themselves again, and marched once more upon that capital in greater numbers than before. Another season of peril and alarm ensued, and the Governor hid himself away in the house of Doctor Franklin ; but the legislature being in session, and the people, the Quakers even not excepted, evincing a proper spirit for the occasion, the insurgents were in the end persuaded to listen to the voice of reason, and disband themselves. It is a singular fact, that the actors in this strange and tragic affair were not of the lower orders of the people. They were Presbyterians, comprising in their ranks. men of intelligence, and of so much consideration. that the press dared not disclose their names, nor the government attempt their punishment.* *Proud-Gordon. After these disorders were quieted, and the Indian Moravians had had time to look about for a place of retreat, they removed to a place called Mahackloosing-Wyalusing, in later times—situated upon the Susquehanna, several miles above Wyoming valley. Here "they built a considerable village, containing at one period more than thirty good log houses, with shingled roofs and glazed windows, a church and school-house, not inferior to many erected by wealthy farmers." They also turned their attention earnestly to agricultural pursuits, clearing and enclosing large tracts of upland and meadow. They resided at this place several years very happily; but were ultimately induced to join the Moravian Indians beyond the Ohio.* Proud-Gordon. - CHAPTER V. Attempt of the Susquehanna Company to recolonize, - Pennsylvania claims the territory again, and leases the valley to Ogden and his associates, — Rival settlements, - Civil War, — Ogden besieged,- Arrests of the Connecticut people,- Situation,- Hostilities resumed, - Ogden draws off,- The Colony advances, — Propositions for an adjustment, - Rejected by Governor Penn, Expedition of Colonel Francis, His retreat, Additional forces raised by Penn, Ogden captures Colonel Durkee, Connecticut settlers negotiate, and leave the valley, Bad Faith of Ogden, - Lazarus Stewart, - Susquehanna Company reoccupy the valley, Ogden returns with forces, Both parties fortify,-Ogden besieged, Surrenders, Penn applies to General Gage,- Request denied, — Reinvaded by Ogden, · Yankees taken by surprise, Captured in the field, Their fort taken, — Arrest of Lazarus Stewart, Rescued, - Returns to Wyoming and recaptures the fort,- Ogden reappears,- Both parties fortify,- A skirmish,— Nathan Ogden killed, -Sensation among the Pennsylvanians, — Lazarus Stewart draws off, and Ogden retains the valley, and commences planting a colony, Sudden descent of Zebulon Butler with a strong force,- Ogden again besieged, Escapes to Philadelphia by stratagem for succours.— His reinforcements defeated, - Ogden is wounded, -The fort surrenders to the Yankees. 1 Six years intervened before the Susquehanna Company attempted to resume their operations in the fair valley of Wyoming. But in the meantime the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, taking advantage of a grand Indian council assembled at Fort Stanwix, in the autumn of 1768, had attempted to strengthen their claim to the disputed territory by a direct purchase from the Six Nations. This object was of no difficult attainment, as the Indians might doubtless have been persuaded to sell that, or almost any other portion of disputed territory, as many times over as white purchasers could be found to make payment. In a word, the Pennsylvanians were successful, and took a deed of the territory from some of the chiefs, in November, 1768. But, nothing daunted by this movement, the Susquehanna Company called a meeting, and resolved to resume the settlement, by throwing a body of forty pioneers into the valley in the month of February 1769, to be followed by two hundred more in the Spring. Indeed the association, in order to strengthen their power as well as their claims, and to expand their settlements, now appropriated five townships, each five miles square, and divided into forty shares, as free gifts to the first forty settlers in each township.* Many parts of the flats, or bottom lands, were of course already clear of wood, and ready for cultivation. An appropriation of two hundred pounds was made for the purchase of agricultural implements; regulations for the government of the colony were drawn up, and a committee appointed to carry them into effect.† The Pennsylvanians, for once, anticipated the people of Connecticut. No sooner had they heard of the renewed movements of the Susquehanna Company, than they made preparations for the *Letter of Colonel Pickering to his son. This committee consisted of Isaac Tripp, Benjamin Follett, John Jenkins, William Buck, and Benjamin Shoemaker. |