History of Northumberland Co., PA - Chapter 1



CHAPTER 1 - Pages 17-41
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY - DRAINAGE - FIRST EXPLORATION OF THE SUSQUEHANNA -
INDIAN TRIBES - THE SUSQUEHANNOCKS - DELAWARES - ALLUMAPEES - THE
SHAWANESE - THE IROQUOIS - SHIKELLIMY - INDIAN TRADERS - CONRAD WEISER -
MISSIONARY EFFORT
  
   A COMPREHENSIVE survey of the topography of Pennsylvania distinguishes
three general divisions. The southeastern section of the State, a region
of wide, fertile valleys and irregular hills, forms part of the Atlantic
coast plain; on the west and northwest is a plateau of moderate elevation,
deeply indented by numerous watercourses; while a section of the great
Appalachian mountain system, averaging about fifty miles in breadth with a
maximum length of two hundred thirty miles, comprises the intervening
territory.
   The middle division, embracing the territory to which this work
especially relates, is situated between the Allegheny and Kittatinny
ranges, the former on the north and west, the latter on the south and
east. It is essentially a mountainous region On the east, between the
Lehigh and Delaware rivers, is the Pocono wilderness, a region of
inaccessible mountain recesses, properly a continuation of the Catskills
and possessing many of their rugged characteristics; between the Lehigh
and Susquehanna and traversed by both is the anthracite coal region, in
which are found the highest altitudes of the State; and southwest of the
Susquehanna is the Juniata country, in many places a labyrinth of
irregular mountains.
   No part of this middle belt contrasts more strongly with its general
mountainous character than the valleys of the Susquehanna. A succession of
peculiarly symmetrical ranges distinguishes the Appalachian system
throughout; between the Juniata and the Susquehanna these ranges include
valleys of varying width and great natural picturesqueness, of which the
continuation east of the West Branch, though less marked, is quite
noticeable. Buffalo and White Deer find their counterpart in the valleys
of Chillisquaque, Pleasant, and Paradise, extending eastward through
Northumberland and Montour into Columbia, but with such changes in name
and modifications of territorial extent as virtually to lose their
individuality. The valley of the North Branch, which attains considerable
width at Wilkesbarre and Pittston but becomes narrower in southern
Luzerne, again expands in Columbia and Montour, with broad stretches of
bottom land at several points in Northumberland. This wide region of
alternating mountain and valley, the fairest portion of central
Pennsylvania, was all included in the original limits of Northumberland
county.
   It would be difficult to define the geometrical figure to which the
present shape of the county corresponds; for, while the Susquehanna forms
a natural boundary on the west, Muncy hills on the north, and Mahantango
creek on the south, the remaining county lines are the arbitrary
dictations of political necessity and convenience. embracing on the north
a part of the valley of the West Branch, and on the southeast a part of
the Western Middle coal field, its topography includes the representative
features of an agricultural and of a mountainous region, with many
intermediate types in which the characteristics of one or the other
predominate.
   The only elevations that reach the grade of mountain attitudes are
found in the territory south of the North Branch. The western end of
Mahanoy mountain, rising abruptly from the level of the Susquehanna river
and at short distance from it, has much the appearance of a huge
promontory, with the river at its base and a broad expanse of picturesque
landscape on the north, west, and south. Two ranges diverge at this point,
known, respectively, as Line mountain and Little mountain, both of which
extend across the county, inclosing the coal measures of the Shamokin
basin, a region essentially mountainous in its character. Line mountain
separates Little Mahanoy and Cameron townships on the north from Jackson,
Washington and Upper Mahanoy on the south, and has possessed political
significance longer then any other interior township line of the county;
its course does not diverge materially from a straight line, and the only
gap between the Susquehanna river and Schuylkill county, a distance of
nineteen miles, is that of Mahanoy creek. Little mountain, the northern
range, is less regular in contour and elevation; two breaks in its trend
occur in this county, the gaps of Shamokin and Roaring Creek. It is the
mutual boundary of Jackson, Little Mahanoy, Zerbe, and Coal townships on
the south, and Lower Augusta, Rockefeller, Shamokin, and Ralpho on the
north. Several ridges, of which the most important are Swartz's, Fisher's,
and Jacob's, extend partially across the extreme southern part of the
county parallel with Line mountain; the Shamokin hills (known as Gilger's
between Shamokin and Roaring creeks), are similarly situated with
reference to Little mountain, while all that part of the county south of
the North Branch is more or less diversified by local elevations of
varying altitude.
   Two parallel elevations extend latitudinally across the northern part
of the county, known, respectively, as Montour ridge and Limestone ridge.
The former is twenty-seven miles in length, terminating at Espy, Columbia
county, Pennsylvania, on the east, and at the Susquehanna river, four
miles above Northumberland, on the west; it has an altitude of seven
hundred fifty feet above tide level, and declines in a long, gradual slope
at each extremity. A beautifully symmetrical crest and remarkable
regularity of outline are its distinguishing characteristics. At its base
on either side is a narrow valley, bounded on the side opposite the ridge
by a succession of broad, undulating hills. It is the line of Point and
Chillisquaque townships, and also separates the former from Montour
county. Limestone ridge, the mutual boundary of Turbut and Chillisquaque
townships, extends from a point on the Susquehanna river just below Milton
to Chillisquaque creek near Washingtonville, Montour county. Its trend
across this county is continuous and regular, with an altitude of six
hundred fifty feet above tide level. The northern boundary of Delaware and
Lewis townships is formed by the Muncy hills, from which there is a
general slope to the south and southwest.
   With respect to drainage, the entire area of the county is situated
within the watershed of the Susquehanna river. In order from the north,
the principal streams that flow into the West Branch are Delaware run,
Warrior run, Muddy run, Limestone run, and Chillisquaque creek, of which
the last named is the most important. It rises in the northern part of
Northumberland, Montour, and Columbia counties, and the main stream first
attains considerable proportions in the township of Derry, Montour county;
from thence its course is nearly due southwest to its junction with the
river at the end of Montour ridge. In order from the east, the streams
that flow into the North Branch from Northumberland county are Roaring
creek, the south branch of which forms the county line; Little Roaring
creek, which separates this county from that part of Montour south of the
river; Logan's run and Wilson's run, the principal streams of Rush
township, and Gravel run, which separates Rush and Upper Augusta. Much the
larger part of the county south of the North Branch is drained by
tributaries of the main Susquehanna river, of which Shamokin and Mahanoy
creeks are the most important. The main branch of Shamokin creek has its
source just west of Centralia, Columbia county, Pennsylvania; it flows
west through Mt. Carmel and Shamokin townships, receiving the waters of
Beaver and Locust creeks in the former and of Coal run, Weikel's run, Buck
creek, Furnace run, Trout run, and Carbon run in the latter, thus draining
nearly all that part of the Western Middle coal field situated in this
county. It finds a passage through Little mountain at the gap north of
Shamokin borough, and pursues a northerly course as the mutual boundary of
Shamokin and Ralpho townships; thence it deflects to the west, and
continues a meandering course through Shamokin and Upper Augusta to the
Susquehanna river at the southern limit of the borough of Sunbury. Its
principal affluent is Little Shamokin creek, which, with Plum creek,
drains Rockefeller township. Hollowing run and Boyle's run are streams of
local importance which flow directly into the Susquehanna from that part
of Lower Augusta township situated between the Shamokin hills and Little
mountain. Mahanoy creek rises near Delano, Schuylkill County,
Pennsylvania, and flows westward through the Mahanoy coal basin to the
town of Ashland, where it breaks through the Mahanoy mountain, From this
point its course is nearly due west, with little deflection through the
townships of Cameron and Little Mahanoy; from the latter it flows through
a gap in Line mountain, and thence, by a very circuitous course through
Jackson township, reaches the Susquehanna river at the town of Herndon.
Its only affluents of importance are Zerbe run, which drains the extreme
western part of the Western Middle coal field in the township of that
name, and Schwaben or Greenbrier creek, the largest stream in this county
south of Line mountain. Fiddler's run and Stone Valley creek empty into
the Susquehanna from Jackson and Lower Mahanoy townships, respectively,
and Mahantango creek, which forms the southern boundary of the county,
receives numerous unimportant tributaries from its territory.
   The topography of the county, however much its general aspect has been
modified by the development of its economic resources, has not changed in
any essential respect since the region comprised within its limits was
first penetrated by the influences of civilization. No upheaval of nature
has interrupted the ceaseless flow of the broad rivers that course
majestically through its territory, or disturbed the mountains and hills
that diversify its surface, with the streams that meander at their bases
and the corresponding succession of valley, slope, and intervale. It is
not difficult to revert, in imagination, to the period when the primeval
forest covered the entire country, and a different race of people held
sway over its woods and waters; and thus the foregoing description of the
physical features of the county forms an appropriate introduction to its
early history.
   The first exploration of the Susquehanna valley was made in 1615-16 by
Etienne Brulé, interpreter to Samuel de Champlain and one of the two
Frenchmen who accompanied him on his first journey to Lake Huron.
Champlain had agreed to join the Hurons in an expedition against the
Iroquois; following the course of the Ottawa river from Montreal to its
source and crossing the portage to Lake Nipissing, he entered Lake Huron
by the French river, coasted along the eastern shore of Georgian bay a
distance of more than a hundred miles, and, after visiting several of the
more important Huron towns, arrived at Cahiague, the rendezvous of their
combined forces, August 17, 1615. There it was learned that an allied
tribe occupying territory adjacent to the Iroquois south of the Great
Lakes had promised to reinforce the Hurons with five hundred warriors;
and, in response to this intelligence, Etienne Brulé at his own
solicitation, was sent to urge them forward, in order that their movements
might harmonize with those of the general body. Twelve Indians accompanied
him; they crossed Lake Ontario and made their way in safety through the
Iroquois country to Carantouan, a palisaded town of eight hundred
warriors. There they were received with every evidence of friendliness and
joy; the departure of the promised reinforcement was delayed by these
demonstrations, however, and before they reached the Iroquois town the
Hurons had retired, after a brief but desultory siege in which Champlain
sustained a severe wound. Brulé thereupon returned to Carantouan, "and,
with enterprise worthy of his commander, spent the winter in a tour of
exploration. Descending a river, evidently the Susquehanna, he followed it
to its junction with the sea, through territories of populous tribes at
war the one with the other."(1) In the spring of 1616 he retraced his
course, and, arriving at Carantouan, was given an escort to guide him
toward Canada. The route again lay through the country of the hostile
Iroquois; he was captured and narrowly escaped death at the stake, but
finally reached the friendly Hurons, whom he accompanied on their annual
descent to Montreal. There he again met Champlain; three years had elapsed
since they parted at Cahiague, and during that period Brulé had doubtless
traversed a large part of interior Pennsylvania and New York.
   The Carantonans are identified by Parkman as the Andastes, a branch of
the great Algonquin family. At the beginning of the seventeenth century it
is supposed that they occupied the western and central portions of
Pennsylvania, particularly the valleys of the Allegheny and Susquehanna.
Like the Hurons of Canada and the Iroquois of New York they fortified
their towns and gave a limited degree of attention to agriculture, and in
numbers and prowess enjoyed the superiority among the surrounding tribes
on the east and south Captain John Smith's exploration of Chesapeake Bay
in 1608 first brought them in contact with the English; from him they
received the tribal designation of Susquehannocks, by which they were
generally known in their intercourse with the Maryland provincial
authorities. The Dutch, who formed their acquaintance as early as 1615,
and the Swedes, who settled on the Delaware in 1638, called them Minquas.
   Between this tribe and the Iroquois an intermittent but sanguinary war
was waged. For many years it was without positive advantage to either
side, as the Iroquois, although the stronger party, had to contend with
the Hurons as well as the Susquehannocks, who rendered mutual assistance
against the common enemy. This is shown by the success of Brulé's mission;
and on a subsequent occasion (1647), the Susquehannocks, who numbered
thirteen hundred warriors and had acquired the use of fire-arms, again
offered to assist their allies beyond the Great Lakes, who were almost
exterminated in the wars of the following years. This enabled the Iroquois
to concentrate their entire strength against the Susquehannocks, but the
latter were assisted by the English of Maryland and the Dutch on the
Delaware, and for some time the scales of victory inclined in their favor.
On the Susquehanna river some fifty miles from its mouth, they had a fort,
defended by several cannon mounted in European style; it was invested in
1663 by eight hundred Iroquois warriors, who were repulsed with great
loss. But misfortune and disaster at length succeeded victory and success;
reduced in numbers by the ravages of disease and deserted by their former
European allies, the Susquehannocks were almost annihilated in 1875. Some
of the survivors were taken to New York and adopted by their captors; the
remainder located on the Potomac river at the western confines of
Maryland, but afterward returned to their former territory and obtained a
reservation on the Conestoga creek in Lancaster county. From that time
they were called Conestoga Indians; many of them had embraced the Moravian
faith and were making fair progress in civilization, when, on the 27th of
December, 1763, having taken refuge in the old jail at Lancaster, they
were attacked by the Paxtang Rangers and killed without the opportunity of
defending themselves. And thus the Andastes, once the most powerful Indian
nation in Pennsylvania, finally became extinct
   The Delawares were also a branch of the Algonquin family. In their own
language they called themselves the Lenni Lenape (original people). Their
traditions have probably been preserved, through the Moravian missionaries
who labored among them, with greater distinctness than those of any other
of the Pennsylvania tribes. According to the legend, their ancestors
formerly dwelt far to the west, presumably upon the shores of the Pacific
ocean, but migrated eastwardly and at length reached the Namoesi Sipu
(Mississippi river). There they met another powerful nation, the Mengwe
(Iroquois), who had likewise come from a distant region. East of the
Namoesi Sipu the country was occupied by the llegewi, a people whose towns
were defended by earthworks; permission to pass through their confines was
obtained, but after a part of the Lenape had crossed the river the
Allegewi attacked them, thus provoking a protracted struggle in which the
Mengwe and Lenape united their forces, expelled the Allegewi, and
apportioned their former territory among themselves, the Mengwe receiving
the region about the Great Lakes and the Lenape the Ohio valley. At length
their hunters penetrated the country east of the Allegheny mountains and
thither they again migrated, occupying the same relative positions as
before. The legend doubtless possesses many elements of truth.

   The territory of the Delawares extended along the Atlantic coast from
the Hudson river to Chesapeake bay. There were three principal clans,
viz.: the Turtle or Unamis, the Turkey or Unalachtgo, and the Wolf or
Minsi, while their great council seat was at the Minisink, a locality on
the Delaware river in Monroe county, Pennsylvania. At the time they first
came in contact with the Duitch the Delawares were a numerous and powerful
tribe, and had long waged a successful war against the Iroquois. According
to their accounts, this was terminated in 1617 by a treaty at Albany, New
York, whereby they agreed to devote themselves to peaceful pursuits in the
interest of general harmony among the various Indian tribes. As part of
this compact they were to receive the protection of the Iroquois, but the
latter also arrogated over them the right of command; this provoked
another war, for which, having laid aside their arms, the Delawares were
unprepared, and, being unable to defend themselves, they were easily
reduced to the position of a tributary tribe. The Iroquois, on the other
hand, asserted that their contest had been achieved by fair war, and
denied the machinations alleged against them. Whatever may have been the
means by which their subjugation was effected, the Delawares could not
deny the fact; and although they did not, like other conquered tribes,
furnish recruits to the Iroquois in prosecuting their wars, a tribute was
rendered in token of continued submission.
   Allumapees was the first Indian chief and only Delaware king who
resided within the present limits of Northumberland county at the period
to which accurate information relates. He first appears in public affairs
under the name of Sassoonan. He was a chief of his nation as early as
1709, when he appeared at Philadelphia with several others, "chiefs of the
Delaware Indians settled at Paxtang above Conestoga and other adjacent
places" on the Susquehanna river. In 1712 he made a visit to the Five
Nations with the tribute from his tribe and a present from the Governor of
Pennsylvania, for whom he brought a present from the Iroquois confederacy
on his return. In 1715, with others of his tribe, he had a conference with
the provincial authorities at Philadelphia, and in a speech on that
occasion referred to "their late king, Scollitchy;" it is probable that
the latter was the immediate successor of the renowned Tammany, and that
after his death Allumapees assumed the regal prerogatives. In the general
release of 1718 he is styled "King of the Delaware Indians." It is
supposed that at that time he resided on the Delaware river, from whence
he removed to Shamokin, an Indian town at the site of Sunbury; there he
lived among the Minsi, the most belligerent of the Lenape clans; who,
after the expulsion of the Andastes, had occupied that part of their
former territory between the Kittatinny mountains and the sources of the
Susquehanna.
   For some years after this he does not appear to have had much
intercourse with the provincial authorities, doubtless on account of the
remoteness of his residence. In 1728 he was interviewed by James Le Tort
regarding a rumored Indian conspiracy; from that time he is generally
referred to by the name of Allumapees, although that of Sassoonan was also
retained to the close of his life. On the 4th and 5th of June, 1728, he
was in Conference with the Governor and Council regarding the Tulpehocken
lands; he also visited then on the 10th of October of the same year. in
1731, while in a state of intoxication, he killed his nephew, Shakatawlin;
about the same time, Opekasset, another nephew and a chief among the
Delawares for some years, also died. Under the weight of this double
affliction his grief was such that "it was like to cost him his life," as
he "forbore taking necessary food." The Governor accordingly invited him
to Philadelphia, where he spent several days in August, 1781. He was again
in that city, August 20-21, 1786, and October 3-4, 1738, and on both
occasions met the Proprietor, Thomas Penn. At a conference on the 1st of
August, 1740, he said that he had come "from Allegheny, a long way off,"
where he had been to hunt The last treaty he attended was that of July,
1742, but it does not appear that he took any active part in the
proceedings. In 1744 he had a long sickness, but recovered,
notwithstanding his age. Spangenborg wrote, under date of June 4, 1745:
"He is very old, almost blind, and very poor, but withal has still power
over and is beloved by his people, and is a friend of the English." And on
the 20th of July, 1747, Conrad Weiser wrote: "Allumapees would have
resigned his crown before now, but as he had the keeping of the public
treasure (that is to say, the council bag), consisting of bolts of wampum,
for which he buys liquor, and has been drunk for this two or three years
almost constantly, and it is thought he won't die so long as there is one
single wampum left in the bag." In the following September Weiser informed
the Governor that he understood Allumapees was dead, but could not be sure
of it; on the 15th of October he wrote: "Allumapees is dead" The Delawares
were a tributary people when he became their king; he appears to have
accepted the situation as he found it, making no effort to recover their
former standing as a nation. He enjoyed, and doubtless merited, the
confidence of the English, and was an ardent promoter of peaceful
relations between them and his people. One of his granddaughters was the
first wife of Andrew Montour; her son, John Montour, served under General
Daniel Brodhead in the West during the Revolution with the rank of
captain.(2)
  
   The Shawanese were of southern origin. At a conference with the
chief of the Six Nations, August 26, 1732, the provincial authorities
informed them "that the Shawanese, who were settled to the southward,
being made uneasy by their neighbors, about sixty families of them came
up to Conestoga about thirty-five years since and desired leave of the
Susquehanna Indians, who planted there, to settle on that river; that
those Susquehanna Indians lied to their government that they might
accordingly settle, and they d become answerable for their good behavior;
that our late Proprietor arriving soon after, the chiefs of the Shawanese
and of the Susquehannas came to Philadelphia and renewed their
application; that the Proprietor to their settlement, and the Shawanese
thereupon came under the protection of this government; that from that
time greater numbers of the same Indians followed them and settled on
Susquehanna and Delaware." They appear to have occupied the upper
Susquehanna valley in common with the Delawares, both being under the
suzerainty of the Six Nations. It is thought that they had a town at the
mouth of Chillisquaque creek. Conrad Weiser was ferried across that stream
by an old Shawane, Jenoniawano by name, on his journey to Onondaga in
1737; Bishop Spangenberg calls it Shawane creek in the journal of his
visit to Onondaga in 1743, and mentions passing "the site of the town that
formerly stood there." The tribe was migratory in its tendencies, and,
with no certain tenure to the lands it occupied in central Pennsylvania,
gravitated to the westward, locating on the Allegheny and Ohio rivers.
Fearing that it might be won over to the French interest the provincial
authorities sought to induce a return but without avail.
   The Iroquois, although not the actual occupants of any part of
Pennsylvania, played an important part in its history throughout the
colonial and Revolutionary periods. They inhabited the fertile region
south of Lake Ontario and about the headwaters of the Hudson, the
Delaware, the Susquehanna, and the Allegheny rivers, including the valley
of the Mohawk on the east and that of the Geneses on the west. Five
tribes, the Senecas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Mohawks, originally
constituted the confederacy, whence they were called the Five Nations; a
sixth, the Tuscaroras, was admitted about the year 1712, and after that
they were known as the Six Nations. Each tribe exercised exclusive
jurisdiction in purely domestic affairs, while matters concerning the
nation as a whole were determined by the great council at Onondaga. This
was the center of their power, which was practically coextensive with the
thirteen original States, embracing also southern Canada and a part of the
Mississippi valley. In the extent of their dominion, their absolute power,
and the statecraft exercised in rendering conquered tribes subsidiary to
their purposes, they have not been inaptly styled "the Romans of America."
In all the arts of a savage people they excelled. Their fields wore well
cultivated, their towns were strongly fortified, their form of government
secured practical unanimity in the execution of military projects, and in
their intercourse with Europeans their chiefs often evinced a remarkable
skillfulness in diplomacy and profoundness of policy. Their career of
conquest was doubtless inaugurated by the subjugation of the immediately
contiguous tribes, and thus, in the extension of their power to the south,
the Andastes and Lenni Lenape were first brought under their sway. The
Shawanese, Ganawese, Conoys, and other Pennsylvania tribes also
acknowledged their supremacy, and, for the better government of these
troublesome feudatories the great Onondoga council was constrained, in the
early part of the eighteenth century, to place over them a resident
viceroy. To this responsible position Shikellimy was appointed, and for a
score of years his name is associated with every important transaction
affecting the Indians of the Susquehanna valley.
   Shikellimy was a Susquehannock by birth, descended from the ancient
Andastes, and thus returned to govern the land from which his fathers had
been expelled. Like many of the more enterprising youth of his tribe, he
had entered the military service of their conquerors; his valor in war was
rewarded by adoption into the Oneida tribe, of which he at length became a
chief, an exceptional preferment for one not a member of that nation by
birth. It is not probable that he was appointed viceroy before 1728; he
was not present at the treaty with the Five Nations at Philadelphia in
July of the preceding year, and Le Tort does not mention him among the
Indians of consequence whom he met "on the upper parts of the river
Susquehanna" in the winter of 1727-28. The first conference that he
attended at Philadelphia was that of July 4-5, 1728, but it does not
appear that he took any active part in the proceedings. He was present on
a similar occasion in the following October, when, after the close of the
conference, the Council considered "what present might be proper to be
made to Shikellimy, "of the Five Nations, appointed to reside among the
Shawanese, whose services had been and may yet further be of great
advantage to this government." The secretary of Council had gained a more
accurate idea of his functions three years later, when, in the minutes of
August 12, 1731, he gives his name and title as "Shikellimy, sent by the
Five Nations to preside over the Shawanese." At the close of the
conference which began at Philadelphia on that date, the Governor having
represented that he was "a trusty good man and a great lover of the
English," he was commissioned as the bearer of a present to the Six
Nations and a message inviting them to visit Philadelphia. This they
accordingly did, arriving on the 18th of August, 1732. Shikellimy was
present on this occasion, when it was mutually agreed that he and Conrad
Weiser should be employed in any business that might be necessary between
the high contracting parties. In August 1740, he came to Philadelphia to
inquire against whom the English were making preparations for war, rumors
of which had reached the great council at Onondaga. He was also present at
the conference at Philadelphia in July, 1742, at the treaty at Lancaster
in June and July, 1744, and at the Philadelphia conference of the
following August. He does not appear to have taken a very active part in
the discussions, a privilege which, among the Six Nations, seem to have
been reserved for the Onondagas. In April, 1748, accompanied by his son
and Conrad Weiser, he visited Philadelphia for the last time, but no
public business of importance was considered.(3)

   Shikellimy's residence is first definitely located in 1729 in a letter
of Governor Gordon to "Shikellimy and Kalaryonyacha at Shamokin." Within
the next eight years he had removed some miles up the valley of the West
Branch. In the journal of his journey to Onondaga in 1737 Conrad Weiser
states that he crossed the North Branch from Shamokin on the 6th of March;
on the 7th he crossed Chillisquaque creek, and on the 8th he reached the
village where Shikellimy lived. Bishop Spangenberg and his party passed
over the same route, June 7, 1745; after passing Chillisquaque creek and
the "site of the town that formerly stood there," they "next came to the
place where Shikellimy formerly lived," which was then deserted; the next
point noticed is Warrior's Camp (Warrior run). Spangenberg certainly did
not cross the West Branch; if Weiser had done so in 1737 there is every
reason to suppose that he would have mentioned it, which he does not; from
which, if there were no other data bearing upon the subject, it would be
fair to conclude that in 1737 Shikellimy resided on the east bank of the
West Branch at some point between Chillisquaque creek and Warrior run. But
there are other data: numerous applications for land in Buffalo valley
refer to "old Muncy town, Shikellimy's town, or Shikellimy's old town,"
and from a comparison of the evidence of this nature John Blair Linn
arrives at the conclusion that the village was situated "at the mouth of
Sinking run, or Shikellimy's run as it was formerly called, at the old
ferry one half mile below Milton on the Union county side."(4) However
this may be, there is no doubt that at some time between 1737 and 1743 he
removed to Shamokin where he resided the remainder of his life. From this
point he made frequent journeys to Onondaga, Philadelphia, Tulpehocken,
Bethlehem, Paxtang, and Lancaster, as the discharge of his important
public functions required.
   There is ample evidence in contemporary records that Shikellimy's
position was one of responsibility and honor rather than profit or
emolument. In the general system of national polity of which the Iroquois
confederacy was the only type among the aborigines of America, his post
corresponded to that of a Roman proconsul. But there the parallel ceases.
Although he was charged with the surveillance of the entire Indian
population of central Pennsylvania, and doubtless exacted a nominal
tribute, no provision what-ever was made for his personal necessities, to
which, with characteristic diplomacy, the provincial authorities were
induced to contribute.(5) The president likewise acquainting the board
that the Indians, at a meeting with the proprietor and him, had taken
notice that Conrad Weiser and Shikellimy were, by the treaty of 1732,
appointed as fit and proper persons to go between the Six Nations and this
government and to be employed in all transactions with one another, whose
bodies, the Indians said, were to be equally divided between them and us,
we to have one half and they the other; that they had found Conrad
faithful and honest; that he is a true, good man, and had spoken their
words and our words, and not his own; and the Indians having presented him
with a dressed skin, to make him shoes, and two deer skins, to keep him
warm, they said, as they had thus taken care of our friend, they must
recommend theirs (Shikellimy) to our notice; and the board, judging it
necessary that a particular notice should be taken of him accordingly, it
is ordered that six pounds be laid out for him in such things as he may
most want. He was expected to hunt and fish, the natural modes of
subsistence with an Indian, regardless of his station, but in the wailing
vigor of old age he was obliged to relinquish the chase, and in October,
1747, Conrad Weiser found him ill a condition of utter destitution. This
he describes as follows, in a letter to Council.
  
   I must at the conclusion of this recommend Shikellimy as a proper
object of charity. He is extremely poor; in his sickness the horses have
eaten all his corn; his clothes he gave to Indian doctors to cure him and
his family, but all in vain; he has nobody to hunt for him, and I can not
see how the poor old man can live. He has been a true servant to the
government and may perhaps still be, if he lives to do well again. As the
winter is coming on I think it would not be amiss to tend him a few
blankets or match-coats and a little powder and lead, if the government
would be pleased to do it and you could send it up soon. I would send my
sons with it to Shamokin before the cold weather comes."(6)

   Upon the consideration of this letter it was immediately decided by
Council that goods to the value of sixteen pounds should be procured and
forwarded to Shikellimy by Conrad Weiser. The consignment included five
stroud match-coats, one fourth of a cask of gunpowder, fifty pounds of
bar lead, fifteen yards of blue "half-thicks," one dozen best buck-handled
knives, and four duffel match-coats. [stroud n [prob. fr. Stroud, town in
England] (1683) 1 also strouding: a coarse woolen cloth formerly used in
trade with American Indians 2: a blanket or garment of stroud from:
Britanica]
  
   On the occasion referred to (October, l747), Shikellimy was quite ill.
Weiser says: "I was surprised to see Shikellimy in such a miserable
condition as ever my eyes beheld. He was hardly able to stretch forth his
hand to bid me welcome; in the same condition was his wife, his three sons
not quite so bad but very poorly, also one of his daughters and two or
three of his grandchildren all had the fever." On the 10th of October, the
day after his arrival, he administered medicines agreeably to the
directions of Dr. Thomas Graeme, of Philadelphia, and before his departure
Shikellimy was able to walk about "with a stick in his hand." In the
following month he was so far recovered as to visit Tulpehocken, and in
April, 1748, he was at Philadelphia. After this he seems to have had a
relapse, for on the 18th of June in the same year the provincial Council
was informed that he was "sick and like to lose his eyesight" He again
recovered, however, and in the following December made a visit to
Bethlehem. On the return trip he became ill, but reached his home with the
assistance of Zeisberger, who attended him during his sickness and
administered the consolations of religion. He died on the 17th of
December, 1748, his daughter and Zeisberger being present The latter,
assisted by Henry Fry, made a coffin. in which. with the possessions he
had valued most highly during life, the mortal remains of the great
viceroy were interred at the burial ground of his people.
  
   "Where the Susquehanna's tranquil branches meet,
   Like prince and princess, each from far retreat,
   "Blue Hill, which for many ages frowned
   Upon the less imposing hills around.
   Rock-breasted, mountain-walled had ever been
   The legendary home or wondrous men.
   "Half up those rocks, conspicuous in place
   Time's hand has chisell'd Shikellimy's face
   Which, looking eastward o'er the rippling wave,
   Beholds the place where chieftains made his grave"(7)
  
   Loskiel, the Moravian historian, gives the following estimate of his
character and account of his conversion:-

   Being the first magistrate and head chief of all the Iroquois Indians
living on the banks of the Susquehanna as far as Onondaga, he thought it
incumbent upon him to be very circumspect in his dealings with the white
people. He mistrusted the Brethren at first, but upon discovering their
sincerity became their firm and real friend. Being much engaged in
political affairs he had learned the art of concealing his sentiments,
and, therefore, never contradicted those who endeavored to prejudice his
mind against the missionaries, though he always suspected their motives.
In the last years of his life be became less reserved, and received those
Brethren who came to Shamokin into his house. He assisted them in
building, and defended them against the insults of the drunken Indians,
being himself never addicted to drinking, because, as he expressed it, he
never wished to become a fool. He had built his house upon pillars for
safety, in which he always shut himself up when any drunken frolic was
going on in the village. In this house Bishop Johannes Von Watteville and
his company visited and preached the Gospel to him. It was then that the
Lord opened his heart. He listened with great attention, and at last, with
tears, respected the doctrine of a crucified Jesus, anti received it in
faith. During his visit in Bethlehem, a remarkable change took place in
his heart which he could not conceal. He found comfort, peace, and joy, by
faith in his Redeemer, and the Brethren considered him as a candidate for
baptism; but, hearing that he had already been baptized by a Roman
Catholic priest in Canada, they only endeavored to impress his mind with a
proper idea of the sacramental ordinance, upon which he destroyed a small
idol which he wore about his neck. After his return to Shamokin the grace
of God bestowed upon him was truly manifest, and his behavior was
remarkably peaceable and contented. In this state of mind he was taken
ill, was attended by Brother David Zeisberger, and in his presence fell
asleep happy in the Lord, in full assurance of obtaining eternal life
through the merits of Jesus Christ.
   At his first appearance in colonial affairs, Shikellimy had a son and
daughter and probably other children. A present was provided for his wife
and daughter at the conclusion of the treaty of October, 1728; and on the
18th of August, 1729, the Governor sent him a message of condolence upon
the death of his son and a shroud with which to cover him. Another son,
Unhappy Jake, was killed by the Catawbas, with whom the Six Nations were
at war, in 1743, and in a letter dated January 2, 1744, Weiser informs
Secretary Peters of the fact, suggesting also the propriety of sending the
bereaved father "a small present, in order to wipe off his tears and
comfort his heart." Several days before Weiser's arrival at Shamokin,
November 9, 1747, there were three deaths in the family, viz.: Cajadies,
his son-in-law, "that had been married to his daughter above fifteen
years, and reckoned the best hunter among all the Indians," the wife of
his eldest son, and a grandchild. It is evident that he had more than one
daughter at that time; "his three sons" are also mentioned. The eldest,
Tachnechdorus; succeeded to the former authority of his father, and, with
two others, "sachems or chiefs of the Indian nation called the Shamokin
Indians," affixed his signature to the Indian deed of 1749. Conrad Weiser,
writing to Governor Morris under date of March 1, 1775 styles him
"Tachnechdorus, the chief of Shamokin, of the Cayuga nation," the latter
part of which is difficult to harmonize with the fact that his father is
uniformly referred to as an Oneida. His brother seems to have been
associated with him; Richard Peters, the provincial secretary, in his
account of the eviction of settlers from lands north of the Kittatinny
mountains not purchased from the Indians, states that his party was
accompanied by three Indians from Shamokin, "two of which were sons of the
late Shikellimy, who transact the business of the Six Nations with this
government." Tachnechdorus was also known to the English by the name of
John Shikellimy. In 1753 he had a hunting lodge at the mouth of Warrior
ran and resided at a small Shawanese town below Muncy creek on the West
Branch. These facts are derived from Mack's journal, which also states
that Shikellimy's family had left Shamokin, where they found it very
difficult to live owing to the constant drafts upon their hospitality. In
April, 1756, he was at McKee's fort, but greatly dissatisfied, as nearly
all of his party were sick.
   Sayughtowa, a younger brother of Tachnechdorus, was the most celebrated
of Shikellimy's sons. "In 1768 and 1769 he resided near Reedsville in
Mifflin county, and has given his name to the spring near that place, to
Logan's branch of Spring creek, in Centre county, Logan's path, etc.
......... In 1774 occurred Lord Dunmore's expedition against the Shawanese
towns; now Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which was the occasion of
Logan's celebrated speech, commencing 'I appeal to any white man to say if
he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him not meat,' which will
go down to all time, whether properly or not, as a splendid outburst of
Indian eloquence."(8) Heckewelder, who thought him a man of superior
talents, called on him in April, 1773, at his settlement on the Ohio below
Big Beaver; the same writer also states that he was murdered in October,
1781, between his residence and Detroit. His English name, James Logan,
was conferred in honor of the distinguished Friend who was so long and
prominently identified with colonial affairs in Pennsylvania; he is
generally known to history as "Logan, the Mingo."
   It has been stated that a Frenchman, Etienne Brulé, made the first
exploration of the Susquehanna; French traders were also the first to
bring the valley of that river within the sphere of commercial
influence. As early as 1694 a petition was presented to Council from
certain inhabitants of Philadelphia and other parts of the Province,
"setting forth their jealousies relating to the French in general
amongst them, and more especially referring to those trading in remote
and obscure places with the natives without security or approbation."
In the previous year information had been lodged against Ann Le Tort,
charging her with treasonable correspondence and with the use of
language calculated to alienate the friendly Indians; this she denied,
and the charges were not substantiated. She was the wife of Jacques Le
Tort, and among their compatriots in the Province at that time were
Peter Bazalion, Richard Bazalion, Captain Dubrois, and M. Lewis, a
French Canadian who was taken prisoner by Pennsylvania Indians and lived
with the Le Torts. Jacques Le Tort was a resident of the Province as
early as 1690 when he applied for permission to go to England, which was
granted. Madame Le Tort resided at Conestoga in 1704. James Le Tort
was probably their son; regarding his personal history the following
entry appears in the minutes of Council under date of the 17th of 6th
month, 1703:-

   James le Tort, who, about two years ago, went out of this Province to
Canada and returned last spring, having been upon his return examined
before several of the Council and magistrates and no great occasion found
to suspect him of any evil designs against this government, he having been
bred in it from his infancy, had hitherto behaved himself inoffensively,
and was seduced to depart in time of peace by the instigation of some
others without any evil intentions that could be made to appear in
himself.(9)
   The earliest evidence of resident Indian traders within the present
limits of the county is "A Draught of the Susquehanna River in 1701, made
by Isaac Taylor, Surveyor of Chester County." It locates "J. Le Tort's
store" at the site of the borough of Northumberland, and from that point
the journey referred to in the minutes of Council was probably made
overland to Canada. His position was well chosen; it commanded the trade
of both branches of the Susquehanna, and, while consignments were
doubtless made to Philadelphia, there is reason to think that the
proprietor was also in communication with the French. England and France
were then at war, and, notwithstanding the favorable disposition of the
provincial authorities toward him and his professions of fidelity to the
colonial government, he was called upon to give "sufficient security for
his good behavior in the sum of one thousand pounds," in default of which
he was incarcerated in the common gaol of Philadelphia. In 1707, with
Peter Bazalion, Martin Chartiers, and others, he embarked in prospecting
for minerals "upon the branches of the Potomac, within this government,"
evidently the Cumberland valley, from which they were obliged to withdraw
by order of the Governor. In 1712 he was licensed as an Indian trader; at
a treaty with the Six Nations at Philadelphia in July, 1727, their chiefs
requested " that none of the traders be allowed to carry any rum to the
remoter parts where James Le Tort trades (that is, Allegheny, on the
branches of Ohio)," from which some idea of the extent of his operations
may be formed. It is highly probable that his journeys thither were made
by way of the Susquehanna river; on the 18th of April, 1728, having
"lately come to town from Chenastry on the upper parts of the river
Susquehanna," he was examined before Council at Philadelphia and stated
that, intending to make a journey as far as the Miamis in the autumn of
the previous year, he had consulted Madame Montour, who had formerly
lived among them; she and her husband, Carondawana, agreed to accompany
him, but, after waiting long at Chenastry for one who had engaged to go
with them, the winter set in before they could proceed, and when he
again spoke to Madame Montour upon the subject she declined to go, having
heard of impending hostilities on the part of the Indians. As further
information was desired, Le Tort and John Scull were forthwith dispatched
to Chenastry with messages and presents for Allumapees, Madame Montour,
and Manawkyhickon. On the 12th of May Le Tort wrote to the Governor from
Catawissa, which shows that his travels embraced also the North Branch. He
was concerned in Indian affairs for some years after this, but not with
any degree of prominence in the territory to which this work relates.
   The earliest recorded visit of Europeans to Shamokin occurred in May,
1728, although there can be no doubt that Le Tort, Madame Montour, and
others passed through the place prior to that date. Taylor's map of 1701
locates "John Scull's store" on the east bank of the Susquehanna river,
near the mouth of Mahanoy creek. Scull was thus the earliest resident
English trader within the present limits of Northumberland county of whom
there is authentic evidence; he was also the first English visitor to
Shamokin of whom there is any record. As previously stated, he was
associated with Le Tort as the bearer of presents to Madame Montour and
the Indian chiefs; they were commissioned on the 18th of April, 1728, and
on the 10th of May, in a letter headed "Shahomaking" Allumapees informed
the Governor that he had received his letter, and sent an answer by John
Scull. Several weeks later it again became necessary to communicate with
the chiefs; three friendly Indians having been killed at Cuscussea,
Chester county, steps were at once taken for the apprehension of the
murderers, and on the 15th of May, 1728, Nicholas Scull, John Scull, and
Anthony Zadowsky received instructions to inform Allumapees, Opekasset,
and Manawkyhiokon of these proceedings. The conference was held at
Shamokin, and the answer of the chiefs, "delivered in Indian and
interpreted by James Le Tort," was transmitted to the Governor under date
of May 22, 1728. On the 7th of August, 1729, a committee of Council
recommended the payment of the following:-

   To Nicholas Scull, eleven pounds, for twenty-two days' service on a
message to the Indians at Shamokin and other parts upon the unhappy
murder of those at Cuscussea; and four pounds extraordinary to him, he
being the person especially intrusted with the management thereof.
   To John Scull, fifteen pounds for thirty days' service on the said
messages and other services performed; and three pounds extraordinary
for interpreting at treaties.
   To Anthony Zadowsky, seven pounds, for fourteen days' service on
the message aforesaid.(10)

   In the autumn of the same year (1728) it became necessary to send a
third message to the chiefs at Shamokin. Anthony Zadowsky, in a private
letter to John Petty, another Indian trader, stated "that an Indian came
to Oley to one Peter Kerwin and brought account that all the Indians
were removed from Shamokin except Allumapees and Opekasset; that at the
Shawanese town called Malson the Shawanese had hanged one Timothy
Higgins, a servant of Henry Smith's, an Indian trader, upon a pole of
their cabin; .... and that it was feared it might not be well with the
rest of the Indian traders in those parts." Intelligence having also
been received that a band of Shawanese had left Pecheoquealin (Durham,
on the Delaware river), upon the receipt of a message from the
Susquehanna, the Governor and Council, at a meeting on the 1st of
September, 1728, decided to send Henry Smith and John Petty to Shamokin
with a message to Allumapees, Opekasset, Shakatawlin, and Shikellimy.
Having arrived at their destination, they wrote the Governor under date
of September 3, 1728, informing him that Higgins had not been hanged as
reported and that they were pursuing their journey in quest of further
intelligence. Nothing of material importance was discovered, however;
the Shamokin chiefs met the provincial authorities in conference on the
10th and 11th of October, 1728, at the court house in Philadelphia, when
expressions of the most friendly character were interchanged, and thus
the war cloud that seemed to be gathering on the Susquehanna frontier
was happily dissipated.
   John Fisher and John Hart are mentioned as "two of the Shamokin
traders" in a letter from the Delaware chiefs "at Allegheny on the main
road" under date of April 30, 1730. Some of their people, the chiefs
state, formed a hunting party, to which Fisher and Hart attached
themselves; when they had gone down the Allegheny river more than a
hundred miles the Indians "proposed to fire hunt by making a ring; the
white men would go along"; the Indians tried to dissuade them from it,
"alleging that they did not understand it and might receive some harm, but
they still persisted in it, so all went together." John Hart was shot in
the mouth; the bullet lodged in his neck, resulting in death. The letter
also states that "at a friend's house about twenty miles distant from
hence, Henry Smith being there with rum, the Indians got drunk," and in
the melee which ensued an Englishman was wounded. This was doubtless the
same Henry Smith who was associated with Petty two years previously as
the bearer of the messages and presents to the chiefs at Shamokin,
Anthony Zadowsky and John Fisher had been at Allegheny in 1729; Jonah
Davenport, who had some dealings with Carondawana, the husband of Madame
Montour, prior to 1728, had been at Allegheny as early as 1727; from
which it is quite evident that the traders who frequented the regions of
the upper Susquehanna extended their journeys to Allegheny by that
route, while the expression, "Shamokin traders," clearly indicates that
the town of that name was a rendezvous for the commercial itinerants of
the entire northern and northwestern parts of the State.
   Regarding these adventurous spirits it is possible to speak only in
general terms. Their ranks were not usually recruited from among the
best classes of citizens, and much that has been preserved concerning
them in official records is not to their credit; but, while their
dealings may have sometimes shown a disposition to take advantage of the
ignorance and credulity of the "red brother," this harmonized so well
with the general 'usage of the first Proprietor and his successors that
it ought, perhaps, to be regarded as commendable. Wherever there were
Indians who would take guns and ammunition, rum, stroud match-coats,
knickknacks, etc. in exchange for peltries, the ubiquitous traders found
their way, and, while geographical knowledge was but an incidental
acquisition, the information of this nature thus gained was of the first
importance. In establishing commercial relations with the Indian tribes
they did much to attach them to the English interest. Not unfrequently,
after a long absence in which their associations had been exclusively with
the savage population of remote districts, they were summoned before the
Governor and Council and the information thus elicited determined in large
measure the policy of the government in Indian affairs. Correspondence
with distant tribes was conducted entirely through them, while their
knowledge of the Indian languages rendered their presence and assistance
indispensable at treaties. In the latter functions they were succeeded by
Conrad Weiser, who, as official interpreter from 1732 until his death, was
intimately connected with affairs in the territory to which this work
relates during that period.
   Conrad Weiser was born at Afstadt, Würtemberg, November 2, 1696. His
father, John Conrad Weiser, a local magistrate, immigrated to Livingstone
manor, New York, in 1710, at the head of a colony of four thousand
Palatinates. Their immediate neighbors were the Mohawk Indians, with whom,
from his prominence among the membership of the German colony, the elder
Weiser was frequently in communication. On one occasion a Mohawk chief
visited him at his home, and, conceiving a fondness for Conrad, who was
then a youth of seventeen, sought and obtained permission to have him
reside among his people. Accordingly, he spent eight months at a Mohawk
town eight miles south of Schoharie, New York; during this period he
acquired a thorough knowledge of their language and customs and was
adopted as a member of the tribe. In 1720 he married, and from 1714 to
1729 he resided within two miles of the town referred to, where, although
engaged in farming, he was also employed as interpreter. Owing to
litigation affecting the title to their lands, many of the Palatinates
removed to the Tulpehocken, Berks county, Pennsylvania; among this number
was Conrad Weiser, who located near Womelsdorf in 1729. The first general
conference between the chiefs of the Six Nations and the provincial
authorities after his settlement in the Province occurred in 1732, when it
was mutually agreed that he should thereafter act as interpreter for that
confederation. In this capacity he officiated at the treaties of 1736 and
1749 at Philadelphia, the great council at Lancaster in 1744, the Albany
conference of 1754 and on many minor occasions. He was also intrusted with
important missions to the great council at Onondaga and to the Ohio
tribes, and throughout his long career as agent and interpreter enjoyed
the full confidence of both Indians and English. He died at Tulpehocken,
July 13, 1760. Two of his descendants, each of whom bore the name of
George Weiser, served as associate judges of Northumberland county.
   Weiser's first journey to Onondaga was made in 1737. Governor Gooch, of
Virginia, having requested the Pennsylvania authorities to send a message
to the Six Nations inviting them to a conference with the Cherokees and
Catawbas at Williamsburg, James Logan, president of Council, engaged
Weiser to undertake the journey. He left Tulpehocken on the 27th of
February, 1737; that part of his journal which relates to the journey
through Northumberland county is as follows:-

   1st March, left Tolheo, which is the last place in the inhabited
part of Pennsylvania. On the 4th we reached Shamokin, but did not find a
living soul at home who could assist us in crossing the Susquehanna
river. On the 5th we lay still; we had now made about eighty miles. 6th,
we observed a smoke on the other side of the river and an Indian trader
came over and took us across. We again lay still today. On the 7th we
started along one branch of the river going to the northwest. An old
Shawane, by name Jenoniawano, took us in his canoe across the creek at
Chillisquaque. On the 8th we reached the village where Shikellimy lives,
who was appointed to be my companion and guide on the journey. He was,
however, far from home on a hunt. Weather became bad and the waters
high, and no Indian could be induced to seek Shikellimy until the 12th,
when two young Indians agreed to go out in search of him. On the 16th
they returned with word that Shikellimy would be back next day, which so
happened. The Indians were out of provisions at this place. I saw a new
blanket given for about one third of a bushel of Indian corn.
   The party consisted of Conrad Weiser, a Dutchman, and three Indians.
The journey was attended with great hardships, and it was not until the
12th of May, 1787, that Weiser's report was considered by Council.
   Weiser's first official visit to Shamokin was occasioned by the
report of a skirmish in Virginia between the inhabitants and a party of
Iroquois. It was feared that hostilities might ensue in which
Pennsylvania would necessarily be involved, and on the 26th of January,
1743, the Governor wrote him to proceed at once to Shamokin, and, in
concert with Shikellimy, devise measures for the adjustment of the
difficulty. He received his instructions on the evening of January 30th,
and, accompanied by Thomas Mckee, an Indian trader, set out for Shamokin
on the following morning. On the 3rd of February they overtook a party
of Shawanese, each armed with gun and saber, at a trader's house twenty-
five miles from Shamokin; as they alighted from their horses the
trader's wife told them that the Indians, who had entered the house,
were disposed to be unfriendly, but Weiser went in, shook hands, engaged
them in conversation, and gained their confidence and good will. They
then pursued their journey together, arriving at Shamokin on the evening
of that day after sunset. On the 4th of February twenty-five Indians,
including Shikellimy, Saghsidowa, Lapacpitton, and Andrew Montour,
assembled in council at Shikellimy's house; as the latter was in
mourning for a relative lately killed in Virginia, Weiser first
presented him with two strouds to wipe the tears from his eyes, an
indispensable preliminary, as the Indians never transacted public
business while in mourning. He then stated the object of his mission, to
which Allumapees replied on behalf of the assembled company. On the
following day Allumapees held a council of the Delawares, at which
Weiser, Shikellimy, and Saghsidowa were present. As a result of these
conferences, Shikellimy, his son, and Saghsidowa, who was a Tuscarora
chief, immediately set out for Onondaga; and, having accomplished the
immediate object of his mission, Weiser left Shamokin on the 6th of
February, arriving at Tulpehocken on the 9th.
   Governor Gooch having expressed his acceptance of the good offices of
the Pennsylvania authorities, it became necessary to continue the
negotiations thus begun by a second message to Shamokin, and on the 9th of
April, 1743, Weiser again arrived at that place in pursuance of
instructions from the Governor. Shikellimy, his son, and Saghsidowa
returned from Onondaga on the same day, and on the 10th a council was held
at which the answer of the Six Nations was delivered. Shikellimy's people
then gave "a handsome Indian dinner" to all that were present, after which
Weiser made known the object of his visit and presented the company with
two rolls of tobacco. On the 21st of April, accompanied by Shikellimy and
Saghsidowa, he arrived at Philadelphia. But the most important part of his
connection with this affair remained to be performed. Governor Gooch wrote
Governor Thomas on the 7th of May, 1743, requesting him to send a present
amounting to one hundred pounds in value to the Six Nations at Onondaga
and arrange for a treaty in the following year. This mission was intrusted
to Weiser; he delivered his report to the Governor on the 1st of
September, and, although no details are given regarding the journey, it
was doubtless made by way of Shamokin and the West Branch of the
Susquehanna.
   Weiser's next visit to Shamokin in his official capacity was made
in May, 1745. In the Virginia affair the English had been the
aggressors, and he represented the Governor of Pennsylvania as mediator
between them and the Six Nations, but on this occasion he appeared to
demand satisfaction for the murder of a trader and two of his servants
on the Juniata by Delawares. Two of the murderers had been apprehended,
tried before a council at Shamokin, and found guilty; they were then
bound, and lay thus twenty-four hours before any one "would venture to
conduct them down, because of the great division among the Delaware
Indians; and Allumapees, in danger of being killed, fled to Shikellimy
and begged his protection. At last Shikellimy's son Jack went to the
Delawares, most of them being drunk, as they had been for several days,
and told them to deliver the prisoners to Alexander Armstrong, and if
they were afraid to do it they might separate their heads from their
bodies and lay them in the canoe and carry them to Alexander to roast
and eat them; that would satisfy his revenge, as he wants to eat
Indians. They prevailed with the said Jack to assist them, and
accordingly he and his brother and some of the Delawares went with two
canoes and carried them off." They conducted the principal perpetrator
to Lancaster, but allowed the other to escape on the way. Weiser was
instructed to demand the apprehension of the two accessories who were
yet at large and the restoration of the stolen goods. He met the Indians
in council at Shamokin on the 2d of May, 1744, and delivered his
message, to which Allumapees responded. A feast was then prepared, at
which more than a hundred persons were present, and after they had, "in
great silence, devoured a fat bear, the eldest of the chiefs made a
speech, in which he said: That, by a great misfortune, three of the
brethren, the white men, had been killed by an Indian; that, nevertheless,
the sun was not set [meaning there was no war] - it had only been darkened
by a small cloud, which was now done away; he that had done evil was like
to be punished, and the land to remain in peace. Therefore he exhorted his
people to thankfulness to God, and therefore he began to sing with an
awful solemnity, but without expressing any words. The others accompanied
him with their voices. After they had done, the same Indian, with great
earnestness of fervor, spoke these words: 'Thanks, thanks to Thee, Thou
great Lord of the world, in that Thou hast again caused the sun to shine
and has dispersed the dark cloud. The Indians are Thine.'"
    After this Weiser's visits to Shamokin were of a less formal
character. In September, 1744, with eight young men of his "country
people," he spent seventeen days there building a "lock-house" for
Shikellimy. His journey to Onondaga in 1745 was probably made by way of
Shamokin, as Shikellimy, his son, and Andrew Montour accompanied him. On
the 18th of June, 1747, he set out for Shamokin by way of Paxtang, when he
met Shikellimy at Chambers's mill, which rendered it unnecessary to
proceed farther. On the 6th of October in the same year he again left
Tulpehocken, arriving at Shamokin on the 9th about noon. It was on this
occasion that he found Shikellimy and his family ill and administered
medicine for their relief. He spent three days with them, leaving on the
afternoon of the 12th and arriving at Tulpehocken at noon on the 15th
(October, 1747). In a letter to the Governor under date of April 22,
1749, he says: "I returned from Shamokin on the 18th of this instant I
happened to meet the eldest and youngest sons of Shikellimy at the
trading house of Thomas McKee, about twenty miles this aide of Shamokin,
by whom I was informed that all the Indians had left Shamokin for this
present time because for want of provisions; so I thought best to
deliver my message there to the sons of Shikellimy." His message was one
of condolence from the Governor and Council to the children and
grandchildren of the deceased viceroy and a request to Tachnechdorus to
"take upon him the care of a chief." On the 17th of April, 1754, he set
out "by the way of John Harris's and Thomas McKee's, being afraid of the
two high mountains," and reached Shamokin on the 20th. Thence he
journeyed up the West Branch a distance of twenty miles, and sent his
son, Samuel, to Wyoming; the latter was accompanied by Logan. They
returned to Tulpehocken on the 1st of May. On the 11th of June, 1755, he
arrived at his home from Otstuacky, a town about forty-five miles above
Shamokin on the West Branch, where he had been with ten hired men to
fence a corn field for the Indians, agreeably to instructions from the
Governor. He left two sacks of flour at Shamokin, where the supply of
provisions was not very plentiful. Two of his sons visited Shamokin in
the autumn of that year, to inform the Indians of Sir William Johnson's
success against the French on Lake George.
   The first visit of Moravians to Shamokin occurred in 1742. The
party, composed of Count Zinzendorf, his daughter Benigna, Conrad
Weiser, Anna Nitschmann, John Martin Mack, and two Indians, David and
Joshua, arrived on the 28th of September, 1742. Bishop Spangenberg,
accompanied by David Zeisberger, John Joseph Schebosh, and Conrad Weiser
and his sons, Philip and Frederick, arrived at Shamokin on the 1st of
June, 1745, and departed for Onondaga on the 7th. In September of the
same year Mack and his wife were stationed at Shamokin as resident
missionaries and remained four months. In April, 1747, he visited the
scene of his former labors to confer with Shikellimy regarding the
erection of a smith-shop. (This had been suggested as early as 1740 by
Allumapees, who brought his ax to Philadelphia to have it mended). In
the following June a house eighteen by thirty feet in dimensions was
erected by John Hagen and Joseph Powell; was first occupied on the 24th of
the month. Blacksmith tools were obtained at Lancaster and transported by
way of Harris's Perry. Anton Schmidt, the smith, arrived on the 3d of
August, accompanied by his wife and the wife of Hagen, who had been
appointed resident missionary, but died in the autumn of 1747 and was
succeeded by Mack. At a later date Schmidt was succeeded as blacksmith by
Max Kieffer, Bishop Cammerhoff and Joseph Powell visited the mission in
January, 1748, and David Zeisberger in the following summer, while the
missionary and smith were frequently in communication with the Brethren at
Bethlehem. When the Penn's creek massacre occurred there were three of the
Brethren at Shamokin, one smith and two missionaries; the latter
immediately fled to Bethlehem, but the smith, reluctant to leave without
instructions from the directors of the society, remained, and finally
effected his escape by way of Wyoming.
   The location of Shamokin is not indicated in contemporary accounts
as definitely as might be desired. Spangenberg states in his journal of
June 3, 1745, (two days after his arrival at Shamokin) that "Joseph and
Conrad crossed the river to visit the Indian king who lives there"
(Allumapees), and on the previous day he mentions that "brother Joseph
also went over to the island to visit Madame Montour," from which it
would appear that the town was situated on both sides of the river and
on the island. On the 2d of June 1757, one hundred Indians arrived at
Fort Augusta, and, according to Colonel Burd's journal, "encamped above
the fort towards the old town." One of their number died of smallpox on
the 8th and was interred "at the old town where the Indians were always
buried." The Indian burial ground was situated on the old Hunter farm,
In 1859-63 M. L. Hendricks exhumed a number of skeletons, among them one
which there is good reason to suppose, was that of the great Shikellimy.

(1) Parkman's Pioneers of France in the New World, p.378.

(2) This sketch has been principally derived from the minutes and
correspondence of council; further particulars may be obtained by
reference to the following Colonial Records, Vol. II, pp. 469, 546, 557,
559-561; III, pp. 296, 304, 315, 316-326, 334-337, 403-406, 506; IV, pp.
53-56, 307-311, 432-434, 443-447, 585, 742; V, p. 138; VII, p. 95.
Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. I, pp. 214, 220, 222, 224, 228, 344-345,
649, 762, 772.

(3) Further particulars regarding Shikellimy's participation in public
affairs may be obtained by reference to Colonial Records, Vol. III, pp.
316, 330, 334-337, 404-410, 425, 435, 446, 500-504; IV, pp. 80, 432-434,
443-447, 584, 743; V, pp. 84-88, 162, 212, 222; Pennsylvania Archives,
Vol. I, pp. 228, 241, 288, 455, 494-497, 499, 649, etc.

(4) Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, p.3.

(5) "The president likewise acquainting the board that the Indians, at a
meeting with the Proprietor and him, had taken notice that Conrad Weiser
and Shikellimy were, by the treaty of 1732, appointed as fit and proper
persons to go between the Six Nations and this government and to be
employed in all transactions with one another, whose bodies, the Indians
said, were to be equally divided between them and us, we to have one half
and they the other; that they had found Conrad faithful and honest; that
he is a true, good man, and had spoken their words and our words, and not
his own; and the Indians having presented him with a dressed skin, to make
him shoes, and two deer skins, to keep him warm, they said, as they had
thus taken care of our friend, they must recommend theirs (Shikellimy) to
our notice; and the board, judging it necessary that a particular notice
should be taken of him accordingly, it is ordered that six pounds be laid
out for him in such things as he may most want."- Colonial Records, Vol.
IV. p. 88.

(6) Colonial Records, Vol. V. p. 138.

(7) Legends of the Susquehanna, by Truman H. Purdy, pp. 9, 42.

(8) Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley, p. 5.
  
(9) Colonial Records, Vol. II, p. 100.
  
(10) Colonial Records, Vol. III, pp. 366-367.