by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, 1793-1864.

See previous entry: Logan, Part 2 -- His Heritage: Chief Shikellamy, 1690-1748.

It is significant that in the settlement of the Susquehannah Valley, the Indians were followed in occupying the area, not by peaceful English Quakers, but by aggressive Celtic and Germanic settlers, with "a bold and enterprising spirit." First and prominent in this infusion of Teutonic population into the Susquehannah Valley was the indomitable Conrad Weiser and his adherents from disputed lands in the Schoharie Valley, New York, where they had failed to realize the promises of Queen Anne (a transference of residence which dates to 1729).

Weiser had learned the Iroquois language as a boy by living with the Indians in the Mohawk Valley, and had so perfected command of it that few, even among the natives, ever had as full, free, and comprehensive knowledge of it. For half a century, Weiser was the primary means of negotiations between the crown of Great Britain and the local Governors of the colonies with the powerful and controlling Iroquois confederacy -- a confederacy, so powerful among the other Indian tribes, that they had only to command, and it was done.

Weiser was a man of uncommon foresight, judgment, and firmness of character. The descendant of pious German Lutherans, he resembled the great Lutheran reformer in one respect: namely, "in the energetic structure and fixity of his mind."

In 1744, it was Weiser who delivered the Iroquois commands to the subjugated Delawares at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. "I forbid you," he said speaking the message of the Iroquois, "ever more to meddle with the sales of land. I direct you instantly to quit the banks of the Delaware, think not of it, deliberate not about it, but go in hot haste. You may go to Shamokin or Wyalusing." (Colden's Five Nations.)

The hardy emigrants that followed Weiser to the beautiful and fertile valley of the Susquehannah, had a demanding frontier life ahead of them. When they obtained their grants from the Penns, these lands not only had to be cleared for agriculture, but the fragile peace was difficult to maintain, causing the settlers to carry weapons to guard their fields and homes from the occasional outbreaks of the Indians. From their perspective, it was not an easy task they had to perform -- exposed to many dangers in a hostile land.

To them, the manners and habits of the Indians were both incomprehensible and intolerable. Suspicion of treachery was ever at its height on both sides, and when collisions arose, these hardy pioneers stood as a wall of defense between the frontiers and the white man's civilization to the east. A harsher judgment of the Indians was consequently formed by them than was universally held by the kindly and peaceful followers of Penn, who were remote from these scenes of conflict.

Two very contentious states of opinion were thus formed between eastern and western Pennsylvania, which led to conflict among the white residents of Pennsylvania. This conflict was not resolved until the capital of the State of Pennsylvania was moved, after a long course of colonial and state struggles, from Philadelphia to the banks of the Susquehannah. This conflict, including threatened armed invasion of Philadelphia by the western settlers of Pennsylvania, is discussed elsewhere in the FirstBase database.

Braddock's defeat in 1755 threw open the whole frontier from the present site of Pittsburgh to the very confines of 'the western settlements' -- most of which, after this event, were abandoned. The defeat and repulse of the British on the Monongahela was, indeed, a signal for renewed hostility by even the feeblest tribes of Indians. The Moravian mission at Shamokin was broken up, and the inhabitants of the new settlements ruthlessly massacred. Shikellamy, who had been a friend to the whites, had died in 1749, six years before these disastrous events; and it does not appear that he had any successor who could have counselled and negotiated peace.

See next entry: Logan, Part 4 -- Logan Emerges on the Scene.

See the first entry in this series: Logan, Part 1 -- Table of Contents and Introduction: The Effects of a Great Speech.

This entry is adapted from Henry R. Schoolcraft's massive six-volume work, INDIAN TRIBES OF THE UNITED STATES...., which was published during the 1850s and 1860s. This entry has been reedited extensively for inclusion in the Pierian Press Fulltext eBooks database, and is included on the Stratton House Inn Web site by special permission. This entry is licensed for use ONLY on this Web site. It may not be copied or downloaded, but may be used for educational purposes and personal pleasure under fair-use provisions via this Web site. Please note that this Stratton House Inn iteration of this entry does NOT include the subject headings assigned each chapter for use in the Fulltext eBooks database.

DATABASE: Fulltext eBooks: Copyright (c) 1998 The Pierian Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ENTRY NUMBER: EBK30000841

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