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[Vol. i
18th.—I read over both the last treaties, that at Easton, and that at Philadelphia, and made myself acquainted with the particulars of each.[1]
19th.—With much difficulty I persuaded the Indians to leave Bethlehem, and travelled this day no further than Hayes's having a hard shower of rain.
20th.—Arrived at fort Allen.[2]
21st.—I called my company together, to know if we
should proceed. They complained they were sick, and
must rest that day. This day, I think, Teedyuscung[3]
————
- ↑ These two treaties were made with Teedyuscung: the first at Easton in July and August, 1757, whereby the neutrality of the Susquehanna Indians and the Six Nations was secured (Pennsylvania Colonial Records, vii, pp. 649-714); the second at Philadelphia in April, 1758 (see Id., viii, pp. 29-56, 87-97.—Ed.
- ↑ After Braddock's defeat, the ravaging of the frontiers both west and north of the settled portions of Pennsylvania became so serious that the colonial government appointed a commission, headed by Franklin, to take means to protect the settlers, and defend the territory. Franklin proceeded into Northumberland County, and made arrangements to fortify the point on the Lehigh where Weisport, Carbon County, now stands. But before the stockade was completed a body of Indians fell upon and seriously defeated a party of militia from the neighboring Irish settlements, led by Captain Hayes (January, 1756). The works were pushed rapidly after this setback, and the fort was named in honor of William Allen, chief-justice of the province. This post was garrisoned until after Pontiac's War, and probably throughout the Revolution. See Franklin's Writings (New York, 1887), ii, pp. 449-454— Ed.
- ↑ Teedyuscung, one of the most famous of Delaware chiefs, was born in Trenton about 1705. When nearly fifty years old, he was chosen chief of the Susquehanna Delawares, and being shrewd and cunning played a game of diplomacy between the Iroquois, the Ohio Indians, and the authorities of Pennsylvania, by which he managed largely to enhance his own importance, and to free the Delawares from their submission to the Six Nations. His headquarters were in the Wyoming Valley, whence he descended to the Moravian settlements, and even to Easton and Philadelphia, to secure supplies from the Pennsylvania authorities. In 1756 a truce was patched up with this chief at Easton, after he had bitterly complained of the "Walking Purchase" of 1737, and the white settlements on the Juniata. His loyalty to the English was doubtful and wavering, and his opposition to Post's journey was probably due to fears that his own importance as a medium between the Ohio Indians and the English would be diminished by the former's success. His cabin at Wyom-
