HON. WILLIAM P. SCHELL (picture)

THE BLUE JUNIATA
By Mrs. Marion Dix Sullivan

Wild roved an Indian girl,
Bright Alfarata,
Where sweep the waters
Of the Blue Juniata;

Swift as an antelope,
Through the forest going,
Loose were her jetty locks
In wavy tresses flowing.

Gay was the mountain song,
Of bright Alfarata,
Where sweep the waters
Of the Blue Juniata,

Strong and true my arrows are,
In my painted quiver,
Swift goes my light canoe,
Adown the rapid river.

Bold is my warrior, good,
The love of Alfarata,
Proud waves his snowy plume
Along the Juniata;

Soft and low he speaks to me,
And then his war-cry sounding,
Rings his voice in thunder loud,
From height to height resounding.

So sang the Indian girl,
Bright Alfarata,
Where sweep the waters
Of the Blue Juniata;

Fleeting years have borne away
The voice of Alfarata,
Still sweeps the river on,
The Blue Juniata.


The Annals of Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Consisting of Condensed Sketches of the Most Important Events Which Occurred During the Century From January 1750 to 1850



Prepared for OLD HOME WEEK
August 4-10, 1907

BY HON. WILLIAM P. SCHELL
GAZETTE PUB. CO., PRINT


PREFACE
At the request of the editor of the "Bedford Gazette" I have prepared this
little historical pamphlet by condensing what I have already written on the
subject, for the information of  "The Home-comers" in August 1907.

It is not intended to publish a full and complete history of the county, but
merely to recount the leading events which have transpired in the territory
now embraced in the counties of Bedford and Fulton during the century
between 1750 and 1850 at which last date Fultoncounty was taken from
Bedford county.

This county as originally established on March 9, 1771, included the entire
western portion of the province, and the consideration of the events
occurring therein would, in effect, be a history of the larger part of the
province.

However, before proceeding to the consideration of the events of the
century, it will be necessary for a proper understanding of them to refer
briefly to some antecedent incidents which affected Bedfordcounty, to some
extent, in regard to its settlement, retardation and development.

WILLIAM P. SCHELL.
Bedford, Penn'a., July 5, 1907.

(p. 1)

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION--1682 TO 1750

The Charters of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia-Rival Claims of England
and France-The Aborigiinal Indian Trails-Juniata Hunting Ground-The
Traders-The Ohio Company.

The Royal Grant to William Penn in March 1681 constituted him Proprietary
and Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania. (See note 1 in appendix relative to his rights and privileges as Proprietary and his duty and obligations as Governor and his policy with regard to the Indians.)

Under the royal grant to Lord Baltimore In 1632 Maryland overlapped a considerable strip of Pennsylvania. After many years of litigation in the courts of England, during which many settlers in each province were arrested by the officers of the other, the disputed boundary line was settled by the two provinces accepting and adopting the survey and location of the Mason and Dixon Line, running on parallel 39 deg., 43 min. and 26 sec. in 1767. The grant to Penn designated the 40th degree of north latitude as the southern boundary; and by this settlement Pennsylvania and Bedfordcounty secured 16 miles of territory.

THE ROYAL CHARTER OF VIRGINIA

Under the grant of 1606 and the subsequent grants, Virginia claimed that they extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea, or the Pacific Ocean, including all that portion of the province lying west of Laurel Hill. This claim resulted in a long and bitter controversy, which was not settled until 1785 when, by agreement, Mason and Dixon's Line was extended five degrees of longitude, to be computed from the Delaware River for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania; and that a meridian be drawn from the western extremity through to the northern limits of said states, respectively to the western boundary line of Pennsylvania forever.

THE RIVAL CLAIMS OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE

England claimed by right of first discovery, nearly the entire North American continent, even to the Pacific Ocean. France, by right of the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi, claimed

(p. 2)

all territory on that river and its tributaries, even to the crest of the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania and also New France, or Canada, and the adjacent
countries.

The fact that these two great European nations claimed portions of the same
territory in America, and that they had power to assert their respective claims by force of arms, made eventual war between them absolutely certain. The desire of one nation to control the commerce and trade of the other nations always has been and always will be a prime and potent factor in creating rivalry and wars between them.

THE ABORIGINES

When William Penn arrived in the province he found the soil in possession of
the Iroquois Indians and their tributary tribes, notably the Delawares. The
Iroquois claimed to be the sole and absolute owners of the soil; that the subject tribes had no interest therein and were only permitted to remain as subjects.

Originally the Iroquois consisted of a confederacy of five nations. They dwelt near the lakes and in the Mohawk Valley and were then known to Europeans as the Five Nations. But about 1711 a portion of the Tuscarora Indians were driven out of North Carolina on account of the massacre of a settlement of Germans in Virginia, and they fled to New York, where they were given a settlement near the Oneidas, and were admitted into the confederacy in 1712. Thereafter, the Iroquois were known as the Six Nations. They claimed dominion over New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio and a part of Canada.

THE DELAWARES

At an early day they occupied New Jersey, and the Delaware and Schuylkill
Valleys in Pennsylvania. They were originally a very warlike nation and for
a long time fought the Iroquois with great courage and persistence, but they
were overpowered about 1667. This defeat completely crushed their warlike
spirits, and ever afterwards they were spoken of as the "cowardly Delawares." With great pride they called themselves "Leni-Lenape" or "original people," which was their proper name. But the white people called them Delawares, after the river on the banks of which they then lived.

THE SHAWNEE INDIANS

They were a restless, warlike, cruel and treacherous nation. Ethnologists
classify them with the Lenape or Delaware family.

(p. 3)

Before their appearance in this province they dwelt on the Suwanee River in
Florida, then under the Spanish government. They were continually at war
with the Spaniards and in that way acquired their habits of perfidy and cruelty, which they so often manifested in this province; finally they were driven out of Florida, and fled to Montour's Island, below Pittsburg, in 1698. They asked permission to settle in the province, and their request was granted.

The permission proved to be a fearful mistake for, through their malign
influence over the Delawares, they were directly responsible for the carnage
and desolation which, for so many years, reigned over the frontier settlements, and especially in Bedfordcounty. In 1728 a considerable portion of them became dissatisfied and, through the influence of the French, moved to the Ohio river.

INDIAN TRAILS THROUGH BEDFORD COUNTY

When the white people reached the shores of America they found many of these trails leading through boundless forests. They were well marked and
invariably located on the most favorable and direct lines between fixed points. In the course of time they became so well worn by constant use and so well known to the Indians that they were able to traverse them by day and night, with unerring precision, when on hunting expeditions or in quest of their enemies.

In 1754, at the threatened outbreak of the French-Indian War, there were two
of these Indian trails leading from Harris' Ferry (now Harrisburg) to the Forks of the Ohio (now Pittsburg). As early as 1732 they were traversed by Indian traders with perfect safety.

The main trail, after leaving Harris' Ferry, passed along the Susquehanna river, through the present counties of Dauphin and Perry, Sherman's Valley
in Perry county, Path Valley in Franklin county, Tuscarora and Aughwick
Valley in Huntingdon county, to Black Log, a distance of 72 miles. (As the
Frankstown trail is outside of Bedfordcounty, a description thereof is omitted). From Black Log the Raystown branch led through Aughwick Valley, Well's Valley in Fulton county, Ray's Cove, Woodcock Valley, Snake Spring Valley, Raystown, along the Juniata to Shawnee Cabin Creek (near Schellsburg) in Bedford county, over the Allegheny Mountain, Brothers' Valley, Quemahoning Valley, and

(p. 4)

Stony Creek in Somerset county, over Laurel Hill, Ligonier Valley, Chestnut
Ridge and the Loyal Hanna creek in Westmoreland county, to Shannopintown on the Allegheny River, 174 miles, making the total distance 246 miles.

THE WARRIOR'S BRIDGE TRAIL

This trail led from the Potomac river, northward on the top of Warrior's Ridge, through Bedford and Huntingdon counties, connecting with the Raystown trail at Alliquippa (near Mt. Dallas) and the Frankstown trail at Warrior's Mark (now in Blair county). This trail, probably, was so called from the fact that an engagement may have taken place between the northern and southern Indians, who were bitter enemies.

As the Juniata region was the great hunting grounds of the Indians it is very likely that they made paths through all the valleys, over all the hills and mountains and along the streams therein, and it is quite certain they made them throughout Bedford county. These Indian trails were subsequently opened and used as pack-horse roads by the traders; in after years some of them were
adopted as military roads by civil engineers, the government, and by railroad companies as being not only the best but also the shortest routes between given points.

JUNIATA HUNTING GROUNDS

At an early day the Six Nations set apart the Juniata region as a general hunting ground for the Indians in the province. One of their chiefs said to the Governor in 1743, "We have given the Juniata for a hunting place to our cousins, the Delawares, and our brothers, the Shawnees, and we, ourselves,
hunt there some times." At that period it abounded with game of all kinds and was the favorite hunting ground of all the Indians. They evidently considered it to be their best hunting ground for deer, for they said, "Further north there was nothing but spruce woods and the ground was covered with palm bushes, and not a single deer could be found or killed there." Even the Indians who dwelt on the Ohio river, including the Six Nations, Delawares and Shawnees, frequently came to the Juniata to hunt. The Conoy Indians, who removed from Virginia to the Susquehanna, afterwards settled on the Juniata because the settling of the white people there made deer scarce.

The Juniata region presumably included all the territory drained by the
Juniata River and its tributaries. The word

(p. 5)

"Juniata" is derived from an Indian tribe named Jotticos, who dwelt on this river as far back as 1614. This name means Standing Stone, which through many years was gradually softened down to the word Juniata. It is probable this tribe was so named from the Standing Stone monument at Huntingdon. Rev. John Heckwelder says, that the Iroquois Ono-Jutto and its change to Juniata,
the Delaware Ach-sin-ni-wink, and the English Standing Stone mean the same
thing.

There were a number of Indian villages on the Juniata and its tributaries, but only two will be mentioned as they were situated within the present county of Bedford.

Alliquippa, a Delaware village, was on the farm of William Hartley, Esq., on the east bank of the Raystown branch, near Mt. Dallas and the historic village of Bloody Run. Tradition says the village, a gap and a hill were all named after Queen Alliquippa, either a Delaware or Mingo squaw who lived there at anearly day, and these names are so given on a map of the Province of 1770. A letter written from Alliquippa village on June 17, 1775, at the time some of the Provincial troops were there says:

"The Queen Alliquippa, upon the surrender of the unfinished fort at the Forks of the Ohio by Ensign Ward had returned to this place." From the expression had returned it is fair to infer that she formerly lived there. In 1753 Col. George Washington called to see her near the Forks of the Ohio, when on his mission to the French commandant at Fort Le Boeff.

Shawnee Village was on Shawnee Cabin Creek, near Schellsburg. Here General Forbes' army and Col. George Washington encamped over night on their march to reduce Fort Du Quesne in 1758.

FUR-TRADERS

Soon after the settlement of the Province it was found by some of the most
adventurous and intrepid settlers that it was a profitable business to exchange goods, wares, guns, ammunition, etc., with the Indians for furs and skins, therefore a large number of persons engaged in the fur business. Under the law they were required to take out a license from the several courts, in order to protect the Indians from the cupidity and bad conduct of evil and dishonest traders.

At this early day there were no wagon roads to the Ohio

(p. 6)

River, and consequently the traders were compelled to pack their goods and
pelts on horses over the Indian trails.

Wherever a trader desired to make a trading post he erected several log cabins, one for his dwelling, another of hewn logs with port holes for his warehouse, and another for his horses, etc. The post was generally called after the name of the trader unless there was already an Indian village. In 1740 these traders were generally French, Scotch-Irish and some Jews. Some of the French came from Montreal and others were Huguenots. Nearly all the traders in Pennsylvania resided in Philadelphia, Lancaster and Cumberland counties. The stock of the traders consisted generally of tomahawks, knives, guns, powder, lead, blankets, red-paint, bright colored cloth and ribbons, beads, looking glasses, rum and innumerable trinkets.

THE OHIO COMPANY

This company was incorporated in 1748 for the purpose of promoting the
settlement of that part of Virginia lying west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was composed of Englishmen and Virginians, and received a grant of a half million acres of land for that purpose. In 1750 the company sent C. Gist and other parties to explore the region. This action excited the hostility of both the Indians and the French, and roused the latter to renew their efforts towards the occupation of the entire region west of the Alleghenies. In consequence of this hostility and the impending French and Indian War the project failed.

THE INTRUSION OF THE WHITE SETTLERS

Under the provisions of the several treaties made between the Proprietaries and the Six Nations of Indians, the white people were prohibited from settling on their lands. But in utter disregard of these treaties, the Scotch-Irish who were permitted by the Proprietaries to settle on the east side of Tuscarora Mountain, to which the Indian title had been extinguished by purchase, crossed over the mountain in 1748 and 1749 and made settlements on the west side on unpurchased lands. The Indians made frequent complaints to the Proprietaries of these violations of existing treaties but were unable to obtain any redress. They then gave notice that they would remove the settlement by force.

(p. 7)

CHAPTER II

1750 TO 1758

The Situation of Affairs in 1750-Forcible Removal of the Settlers-French Encroachments-Trent's Mission to the Ohio-Washington's Mission to le Boeff-His March on Fort Du Quesne-The Albany Congress-Land Purchase by the
Proprietaries-The Provincial Road-The Government Dissentions-Braddock's
Expedition and Defeat-Dunbar's Retreat-Indian Atrocities-Battle of Ray's Cove-Forbes' Expedition to Fort Du Quesne.

SITUATION IN THE PROVINCE IN 1750

The white settlers and the Indians had lived together for nearly 70 years in
peace and friendship, but, unfortunately this happy condition of affairs was
disturbed and finally broken by the persistent encroachments of the former.

On January 27, 1750, Cumberlandcounty was established. It not only embraced the territories of the present counties of Bedford and Fulton but nearly all the western part of the state.

Within a few weeks thereafter, the Governor, in order to preserve peace with the Indians, directed the Sheriff of the county to proceed to the settlements of the white intruders and destroy their cabins and compel their removal. Accordingly the Sheriff burned the cabins in Sherman and Tuscarora valleys and on Auchwick creek and in the Big Cove and forcibly compelled the settlers to leave. (The two last named settlements are now in Fultoncounty.) The charming village of Burnt Cabins has been so called ever since. The intruders on lands on Tonoloway creek were not disturbed, probably because at that date the land was within the limits of Maryland. This action of the Provincial Government appeared to pacify the Indians.

THE AGGRESSION OF THE FRENCH

The rival claims of Great Britain and France made war between them inevitable, and cupidity and greed precipitated it. Early in 1753 a considerable body of French troops with their Indian allies occupied the Forks of the Ohio, and, notwithstanding the protests and the armed forces to repel their invasions, on the part of the English, they continued in possession and, in the

(p. 8)

meantime, greatly increased the number of troops until expelled in 1758. The
English made four attempts to repossess the region. George Washington was
sent in 1753 with a message to the French commandant at Fort Le Boeff demanding his departure, which he haughtily refused to do.

Captain William Trent was sent to the Ohio for the purpose of erecting a fort. He was confronted by a superior force and was compelled to surrender to the French commandant, but was permitted to return to Fort Cumberland. In 1754 Col. Washington was sent with considerable force to reinforce Capt. Trent but he was compelled to surrender to a superior body of troops.

THE ALBANY CONGRESS-1754

In order to preserve the friendship of the Indians and to counteract the intrigues of the French to win them over to their interests, the Home Government directed the several colonies to send Commissioners to a General
Congress at Albany in June 1754. After considerable effort the Six Nations were induced to enter into a new treaty of friendship

After this treaty had been signed the Pennsylvania Commissioners, apart from
the Commissioners of the other colonies, entered into a separate treaty with
the chiefs of the Six Nations whereby the Proprietaries purchased from them
nearly one-half the total area of the Province, thus leaving very little territory for the Indians, especially the Delaware and Shawnee tribes.

The dissatisfaction and unrest which still prevailed among them by reason of
the loss of their old homes and hunting grounds under the treaties of 1736
and 1749 were intensified by this wholesale transfer of their lands. In order to allay this rising hostility the Home Government prevailed upon the Proprietaries to release all the lands lying west of the Allegheny mountains, which they did October 26, 1758.

This unfortunate purchase gave the French a great opportunity to win the Indians over to their side by promising to drive out the English settlers and restore to them all the land they had sold.

In 1755 the Home Government made one more effort to dislodge the French
troops from the Ohio. Edward Braddock was appointed commander of the expedition against Fort Du Quesne. He had several thousand regular and Colonial troops in his army. They were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Cumberland. After

(p. 9)

the troops arrived there the commander was greatly hampered for want of men,
provisions, arms, etc., and could not, therefore, move promptly.

THE PROVINCIAL ROAD

The Commissary General asked the Governor of Pennsylvania to open a wagon
road from Carlisle to Turkeyfoot to intercept the road from Cumberland, in order that General Braddock could get supplies, etc. Accordingly the road was commenced and was opened as far at the top of the Allegheny mountains, but before its completion the road builders were driven away by the French and Indians, after Braddock's defeat.

Sir John Franklin raged like a madman because the road was not pushed more
rapidly. But for many reasons this was impossible. Doubtless the delay greatly retarded General Braddock in his march, and perhaps contributed to his disastrous defeat by giving the enemy time to secure reinforcements.

This road passed through Burnt Cabins, Fort Lyttleton, Juniata Crossings,
Fort Bedford and Harmon's Bottom to the top of the Allegheny mountains.

THE GOVERNMENT DISSENTIONS

The unfortunate dissentions between the Governors of Pennsylvania, Virginia
and Maryland and their respective assemblies as to their respective rights,
duties and obligations made it impossible to push the war vigorously against
the French and Indians. It will be impossible to give a full history of the
criminations and recriminations which were made. It must suffice to say that
the friction between the Governor and the Assembly in Pennsylvania was
inherent in the frame of the Provincial Government, which consisted of two branches-the Governor, who represented the interests of the Crown, and the Proprietaries, who owned the lands and were unwilling to have them taxed; and the Assembly, who represented the interests of the people and desired to tax the lands for their defense.

GENERAL BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION

While the colonies contributed both men and money to some extent, they
failed to give that prompt and liberal support which the exigency of the case required. His force left Fort Cumberland June 19, 1755. The roads were bad, or did not exist. The troops were compelled to make slow marches and were beset night and day by French and Indian scouts. After a long and weary

(p. 10)

march they reached the banks of the Monongahela river on July 8, and the next day crossed over.

BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT

On July 9 his army, after crossing the river, began to ascend the river bank, but before they were able to form a line of battle they ran into the French forces, led by Commandant Beaujeu who fell at the first fire. It has been claimed that the French had prepared an ambush, into which Braddock's
advance column was entrapped. This is an error--there was no ambush--but one was intended. Beaujeu reconnoitered the very ground a day or two before and had selected the very spot where the opposing forces met, as a suitable place for an ambuscade, and on the morning of the battle had made an early
start from Fort Du Quesne in order to reach the place before General Braddock's forces arrived there. But he was too late--the English and the
French forces met, each unaware of the presence of the other.

General Braddock lost the battle by his adherence to the English method of
fighting in the open instead of adopting the Indian method of fighting behind shelter, rocks, trees, etc., as Colonel Washington desired him to do. The battle was fearfully disastrous to the English and Colonial forces. He met his death bravely.

COLONEL DUNBAR'S RETREAT

At the time of Braddock's defeat Colonel Dunbar, with upwards of 2,000 troops, was encamped on the top of Laurel Hill, some 40 miles distant. On July 13 he commenced a retreat to Fort Cumberland with his forces and the fugitives from General Braddock's army. He arrived there on July 22 and from there he marched his troops to Philadelphia. His retreat was universally condemned. Governor Morris, Governor Dinwiddie and General Shirley joined in this censure. Gen. W. Shirley succeeded in the command.

INDIAN INVASION

The disastrous termination of Braddock's expedition, from which the English
people expected so much, spread gloom over the whole country. The French and
their savage allies soon overran the whole country west of the Allegheny
mountains. There was not left a single settler or trader other than those who were

(p. 11)

favorable to the French interests, and this state of affairs continued for
more than three years.

Emboldened by their success, the savages, within two months, advanced
eastward over the Allegheny mountains and there broke up into small predatory bands and made incursions in Cumberland (which then included
Bedford), Lancaster, York, Berks and Northampton counties. Wherever they
went they killed and scalped and carried away captive the inhabitants, old
and young, and applied the torch to houses and barns. Fear, death and desolation prevailed wherever they appeared.

In the fall of 1755 the country west of the Susquehanna river had 3,000 men
in it fit for bearing arms, and in 1756, exclusive of the Provincial forces, there were not 100 left.

INDIAN ATROCITIES IN BEDFORD COUNTY

In June 1755, prior to Braddock's defeat, more than 30 persons were killed and scalped, or taken captive within 30 days near the Bedford county line in Maryland.

It is very probable that Mrs. John Perrin, the sister of Robert Ray, Mrs. Vogan, Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Tomlinson, who were captured by Wills, a Shawnee chief, in Southampton township in 1755-56 were, at that time, within the boundaries of Maryland. Mr. Adams says that Mrs. Perrin and her babe were killed and scalped and that other captives were taken to Montreal, and returned after six years. James Smith was captured and his companion killed and scalped four miles west of Raystown, now Bedford. After the defeat in November 1755, the Indians under King Shingas and Capt. Jacobs devastated the Great Cove (Note 2) and Tonoloway settlements (now in Fultoncounty); 27 plantations were burned and cattle killed. Out of 93 families there were 47 who were either killed, captured or driven away.

The numerous atrocious Indian incursions made it necessary for the Provincial Government to adopt some systematic plan of defense. A chain of forts and block houses were erected along the Kittatiny hills from the Delaware to the Potomac. This action seemed to give the inhabitants some assurance of protection.

Fort Lyttleton was erected in the fall of 1755 by the Province near Auchwich
creek on the Provincial road and was so named in honor of Gov. George Lyttleton of Virginia. It was intended not only to protect the inhabitants of that part of the Province

(p. 12)

but, at the same time, to serve as advanced post or magazine. Capt. Hance
Hamilton, with a garrison of 75 men, was placed in charge of it. For several
years a force of 100 men was left in it and during the French-Indian War it was of great service to the Province. This beautiful village is now in Fultoncounty.

THE BATTLE OF RAY'S HILL

In April 1756, Fort McCord, which was built of logs on the east side of Tuscarora mountain, was captured by the Indians under King Shingas. The fort was burned and the captives, 27 in number, were mostly killed and scalped, but a few were taken to the Indian village, Kittanning. On receipt of this sad intelligence Capt. Hamilton and Capt. Culbertson determined to follow the savages and rescue the captives. With 51 soldiers and a few volunteers they overtook them in Ray's Cove, not far from the Juniatariver, in a dense
wilderness. There they were surrounded in an ambuscade by a much larger
force of Indians, but notwithstanding that these brave men were exposed to a
constant fire they fought heroically for two hours and a half and then, perceiving reinforcements coming from another band of Indians, they made a
bold retreat, with great success. Several Indians were killed. Captain Culbertson and 24 men were killed and 12 wounded. The retreat was made in
good order, taking their wounded with them. Nowhere in American history can
there be found an exhibition of greater valor, more indomitable courage, or
more heroic resolution!

A letter dated at Shippensburg April 12, 1756, contains the following list of the killed and wounded: Killed of the company under command of Captain Culbertson--Alexander Culbertson, captain; John Reynolds, ensign of Captain
Chambers' company; William Kerr, James Blair, John Layson, William Denny,
Francis Scott, William Boyd, Jacob Paynter, Jacob Jones, Robert Kerr and
William Chambers. Wounded--Abraham Jones, Francis Campbell (who was
grandfather of the late Mrs. Sarah D. C. Reamer of Bedford), William Reynolds, John Barnet, Benjamin Blyth, John McDonald and Isaac Miller. Killed of Captain Hamilton's men under command of Ensign Jamison--Daniel McCoy, James Peace, John Blair, Henry Jones, John McCarthy. Wounded--Ensign
Jamison, James Robinson, William Hunter, Matthias Ganshorn, William Swailes and James Lowder.

In the same year the Indians extended their incursions from

(p. 13)

the Delaware to the Potomac river. On January 28 they massacred a number of
people in the Tonoloway settlement. They killed and scalped James Leaton, Mrs. Catherine Stillwell and one of her children and carried two others away, and burned many houses and barns.

FORT RAYSTOWN

The first mention of erecting a fort at Raystown was made by Col. John Armstrong in February 1757 and Governor Denny recognized the value of the
location by ordering him to encamp with a detachment of 300 men near Raystown "a well-chosen and strategic situation this side the Allegheny hills between two roads," meaning two Indian trails through Frankstown on the north and Raystown on the south.

In June 1757 Capt. Hance Hamilton encamped with 200 men near Raystown. He remained until July 4. Captain Dagworthy's scouts from Fort Cumberland came to Raystown soon thereafter. Hostilities were kept up by the Indians until
late in 1757 when the Susquehanna Indians negotiated for peace, though the
western tribes continued to roam over the Province in small predatory bands.

THE TREATY AT EASTON IN 1758

This treaty was made necessary by the unfortunate treaty at Albany in 1754,
in which the Six Nations had sold nearly all their lands to the Proprietaries. This treaty released to the Indians all the territory west of the Alleghenies, reserving all east thereof, which included the present counties of Bedford and Fulton. In the same treaty the Indians agreed to surrender all captives they held. But the French still continued the war and cruel massacres were committed on the frontiers until near its close in 1762.

GENERAL FORBES' EXPEDITION--1758

Immediately after the disastrous defeat of General Braddock's army in 1755,
the Home Government commenced making preparations to crush the French forces in America. Gen. John Forbes was appointed to command the troops against Fort Du Quesne. His army was composed of some six thousand soldiers, and they were all ordered to assemble at Raystown (now Bedford).

The Virginia and Maryland troops came by way of Fort Cumberland, and all the
others by way of Carlisle.

In accordance with this plan, the following troops assembled

(p. 14)

at Raystown in the months of July, August and September 1758, to wit: The
62nd Regt., or Scotch Highlanders, 1,200 men, under the command of Hon.
Archibald Montgomery; the Royal Americans, 364 men, under the command of Col. Henry Boquet; the Virginia regiments, 1,600 men, under Senior Col. George Washington and Col. Wm. Byrd; the Maryland Volunteers, 276 men under the command of Captain Dagworthy; the Pennsylvania Provincials, three battalions, 2,700 men, respectively under (1) Col. John Armstrong, (2) Col. James Burd, (3) Col. Hugh Mercer; the lower counties (now Delaware) under Maj. Wells, two companies. In addition there were upwards of 1,000 wagoners, suttiers, etc. The tradition is that this large army encamped on the land lying between John and Pitt streets and eastward of Bedford street.

The advance column of the Pennsylvania forces, under Colonel Boquet, left
Carlisle in June 1758 for Raystown and on their way erected a stockade fort at Juniata Crossings, and about the middle of July they arrived at Raystown. They also built Fort Raystown and completed it before August 16, 1758. Brig. Major Shippen writes on that date, "We have a good stockade fort built here, with several convenient and large storehouses. Our camps are well secured with good breastworks and a small ditch on the outside, and everything goes well." Evidently the log house called the "King's House" was built at the same time.

(Here I wish to correct an error mentioned in the History of Bedford County
1884, and since repeated, that the Fort and King's House were built in 1753 and 1754. The above quotation from the state records should settle the question for all time.)

The first religious services in the fort were held early in August 1755 by Charles Beatty and John Steel, chaplains of the Pennsylvania troops, who were Presbyterian clergymen. (Note 3 in Appendix).

Notwithstanding the preference of Colonel Washington for marching his forces
over the old Braddock road, Colonel Boquet insisted that a new road should be opened from Raystown to Fort Du Quesne. Accordingly the southern forces
marched from Fort Cumberland to Fort Raystown, and the total number of troops assembled here was over 6,000 men, exclusive of wagoners, etc.

Colonel Boquet's advance column of some 2,000 men proceeded to open a new
road to Loyal Hanna creek. Here he erected

(p. 15)

Fort Ligonier. The other troops remained at Fort Raystown until the arrival of General Forbes, who had been quite ill, with his escort on September 15, and soon thereafter the main body of the army commenced its march to Fort Du
Quesne.

Before their arrival at Ligonier Colonel Boquet permitted Major Grant to go with 800 Highlanders to reconnoiter. He was suddenly attacked by a large force of the enemy and was defeated with a fearful loss on what is now called Grant's Hill in Pittsburg. But the enemy in failing to defeat Colonel Boquet in a subsequent battle, after firing the buildings and destroying the stores, etc., retreated from Fort Du Quesne. On November 25, 1758, the English flag floated over the dismantled fortress.

Fort Pitt was soon thereafter erected and named in honor of the great English Premier, William Pitt. The northern troops returned by way of Fort Bedford. General Forbes died in Philadelphia in March 1759 and Brig. Gen. John Stanwix was appointed his successor.

(p. 16)

CHAPTER III

1758 TO 1771.

The Early Settlers-Bedford Manor, 1761-Peace Between English and French,
1762-3-The Black Boys, 1760-Surrender of White Captives, 1762-Pontiac War-Robbery of Traders' Goods at Bloody Run, 1763-Destruction of Traders' Goods by the Black Boys Near Scrub Ridge, 1765-Peace with the Indians, 1766-Bedford Town Laid Out, 1766-Robert Ray-Garrett Pendergrass-Destruction of Traders' Goods Near Juniata Crossings by the Black Boys, 1769-The Capture of Fort Bedford.

THE EARLY SETTLERS

The Scotch-Irish who settled in the Big Cove and Auchwick creek between the
years 1740 and 1749 (whose cabins were burned by the Sheriff in 1750), were
clearly the first white settlers within the present boundaries of Bedford and Fulton counties. Mr. Adams says a number of Virginians settled in Town Creek valley in 1728 but at that time that valley was within the limits of Maryland. It is also claimed by the present owner of a farm in Bedfordtownship that the Philips house was built and, inferentially, occupied in 1710. This is most certainly an error. Penn landed in the Province in 1682 and the territory of Bedford county was not purchased from the Indians until 1754. There were no actual settlers in Bedfordtownship until 1755. The first trader at Raystown located in 1750.

In 1758 a great number of Scotch, Scotch-Irish and a few Germans and Huguenots followed in the trail of General Forbes' army and a great many of
them settled in and around Bedford, in Colerain and Cumberland Valley
townships, near Schellsburg and on Dunning's creek. In 1762 the industrious
and thrifty Germans began to come into the county and with great perspicuity
and good judgment settled on the limestone land in Dutch Corner and Morrison's and Friend's coves.

THE MANOR OF BEDFORD, 1761

In pursuance of a warrant issued by the Governor to the Surveyor General he
surveyed and located this Manor, in October

(p. 17)

1761, containing 2,810 ½ acres with allowances. In England the erection of
such a Manor would have constituted the owners lords or barons. But no such
Manor in this sense was ever created in Pennsylvania. These Manors were only reservations of one-tenth of the land for the use of the Proprietaries, to which they were entitled under the frame of government. This Manor embraced Fort Bedford and the land claimed by Garrett Pendergrass, including 50 acres which he had cleared, a portion of which was subsequently known as the King's Orchard.

The Manor included the claims of the following settlers in and near Bedford:
Garrett Pendergrass, John Ormsby, Samuel Drenning, Philip Baltimore. Col.
George Crogham (Croghan?), Christopher Lewis, Winemiller's place, Joseph Shenenolf, John Daugherty, Thomas Jamison, John Holmes and Bernard Daugherty.

THE BLACK BOYS, 1760

Capt. James Smith, who had been captured by the Indians in 1755 near
Bedford, escaped and returned to his old home in the Conococheague
settlement in 1760. He then heard of the merciless and unpitying warfare of
the savages and how his people had suffered from their predatory incursions,
and his brave spirit was roused and cried for vengeance. The settlers, who had been driven away, were just returning to their homes. He therefore urged them to effect an organization so that they could defend themselves against future attacks. Here is his account of their organization:

"The settlers raised sufficient money to pay a company of riflemen for several months, and elected a committee to arrange the matter of defense. They appointed me Captain of the company of rangers and gave me the appointment of my subalterns. I chose two of the most active young men that I could find, who also had been long in captivity with the Indians. As we enlisted our men, we dressed them uniformally in the Indian manner, with breech clouts, leggins, moccasins and green shrouds, which we wore in the same manner that the Indians do, and nearly as the Highlanders wear their plaids. In place of hats we wore red handkerchiefs, and painted our faces red and black, like Indian warriors. I taught them the Indian discipline, as I knew no other at that time, which would answer the purpose much better than British. We succeeded beyond expectation in defending the frontier, and were extolled by our employers."

(p. 18)

The company was called "The Sideling Hill Volunteers" and Captain Smith and
William Smith, a Justice of the Peace, assumed the prerogative of compelling all traders to submit, to an examination of their goods, otherwise the above
named company would stop their transit.

In 1762 King Beaver delivered up a number of white captives, under the Easton treaty of 1758, and escorted by Rev. Frederick Post they were taken through Fort Bedford on July 16, remained several days and were then delivered to the Governor and Council at Lancaster on August 13. (See note 4, Appendix.)

FRENCH-INDIAN WAR ENDED, 1763

After the capture of Montreal and Quebec by the English, the French relinquished Canada; under a definite treaty of peace, at Paris in 1763. War
is always attended with a grim irony. France staked the existence of her power in North America upon holding dominion over the Ohio region of country. But when the war ended she was compelled to surrender all her possessions on the continent. Canada was ceded to Great Britain, and Louisiana to Spain. After this treaty and a treaty of peace between the Province and the Delaware and Shawnee Indians, the settlers once more felt secure in their homes.

THE PONTIAC WAR, 1763

But this feeling of security was of short duration for as soon as the French
troops were withdrawn from the support of the Indians, Pontiac, an Ottawa
Sachem, quickly and clearly discerned the disastrous effects of this action
upon his people. He was able, brave, and resourceful and, in fact, the greatest of his race in the seventeenth century. When Fort Detroit, with its large garrison, in pursuance of the treaty, was surrendered to Major Rogers and his 200 regulars in the presence of a large concourse of red men, Pontiac scowled and said, "These English have conquered the French, they mean to turn upon the red men and make slaves of them, but it shall not be." His great and only hope was in a complete confederacy of the red men against the whites. Immediately Pontiac sent out couriers with the tokens of union and war to all the tribes on the lakes and in the lower Mississippi and succeeded in banding them together in a solid phalanx for vengeance upon the whites.

When this formidable confederacy was ripe for action he planned to make
simultaneous attacks on all the English forts

(p. 19)

and frontier settlements. Accordingly furious attacks were made on some 12
forts and nine of them were surprised and taken and the garrisons mercilessly massacred. Fort Pitt, under the command of the brave Captain Ecuyer, was violently assailed on June 22. With 300 troops he kept the savages at bay for many days. Fort Ligonier was assailed nearly at the same time, but with a reinforcement of the militia of Bedford the small garrison was able to repel the attack.

During these several attacks on the forts the confederated Indians overran the frontiers of the entire Province and carried death and desolation everywhere. They fell upon the traders and murdered many of them and plundered their effects. The upper part of Cumberland county, now Bedford and Fulton counties, was overrun by Indians who set fire to houses, barns, hay and everything combustible.

The settlers who could escape fled to the forts. Terror prevailed and the roads were lined with women and children. Many of them fled to Fort Bedford which was then under command of the gallant Captain Ourry and which was greatly strengthened by troops from Forts Loudon, Lyttleton, Juniata and Stony Creek.

The Indians surrounded Fort Bedford for several days but were apparently afraid to attack it. Then, withdrawing from before it, they scattered in predatory bands and for weeks raided the settlements, killing and scalping many persons and taking a number of captives. During all these weeks of terror the hopes of the people for relief were cast upon the brave and indomitable Colonel Boquet (Bouquet?), who was marching rapidly from Philadelphia with troops to relieve the beleaguered forts and give protection to the settlers. He had 500 regular soldiers and six companies of rangers from Lancaster and Cumberland counties. He reached Fort Bedford on July 25 and, finding the country in a deplorable condition, he detailed two companies of rangers as additional safeguards.

Colonel Boquet then advanced with forced marches to the relief of Forts Ligonier and Pitt and reached the latter fort on August 15. He defeated the
Indians at Bushy Run in a terrific battle and raised the siege of both forts.

This defeat disrupted the confederacy, and in 1766 the representatives of the Indians met Sir William Johnson at Oswego and signed a treaty of peace.
Shortly afterwards Pontiac was

(p. 20)

killed near East St. Louis by a Kashasin Indian who, it is asserted, was hired by the English.

Fort Bedford was the principal depot for military stores and provisions between Carlisle and Fort Pitt, and hence it was very important to keep the road open. It was also a place of refuge from the Indians. As a further safeguard Colonel Armstrong was directed to raise a battalion of frontiersmen for immediate service. He collected some 300 volunteers from the towns of Carlisle, Shippensburg and Bedford.

In 1764 Colonel Boquet was compelled to make a second expedition to Ohio in
order to chastise the Indians who had forgotten their defeat the year before. In March 1764 he requested the Governor to send two companies of Pennsylvania troops to march to Bedford with the convoy destined for Fort Pitt and to proceed to that post with the detachment of the King's troops at Bedford.

He defeated the Indians in Ohio and destroyed their villages and caused them
to sue for peace. Captain James and William Piper and William Proctor, of Bedford, were with him. The Indians surrendered 300 white captives, nearly
all children, who, passing through Fort Bedford, were sent to Carlisle.  A treaty of peace was proclaimed October 1764.

In May and June 1765 treaties of peace were made by England with the Indians, but it appears that treaties with these unstable Red Men were only made to be broken by them.

ROBBERY OF TRADERS' GOODS AT BLOODY RUN, 1763

During times of peace the traders were not interrupted in their large and
lucrative trade with the western Indians in supplying them with all kinds of
supplies, but when war broke out these supplies were used against the white
people, therefore the General Assembly on the 22nd of October, 1763, passed
an act "To prohibit the selling of guns, gun powder, or other warlike stores to the Indians." This act of Assembly, together with strong sentiment of the people against this contraband trade, utterly destroyed the traders' business.

Soon after the beginning of Pontiac's war a band of these confederated Indians attacked a convoy of traders' goods, at Bloody Run, of the value of $250,000 owned by 23 traders, when on their way to Fort Pitt, with many men, wagons, horses and cattle.

(p. 21)

The convoy traveled safely until they got to the little stream, now called Bloody Run. There a large band of Indians belonging to the Shawnee, Delaware and Huron tribes, evidently expecting the traders, formed an ambuscade. The traders, totally unaware of the ambuscade, marched forward without any
apprehension of danger. The savage yell and the fire of the Indians soon brought the convoy to a stand. The account says:

"That some time in 1763, divers companies of Indians belonging to the Shawnee, Delaware and Huron tribes, did most unjustly and contrary to all faith and treaty, seize, confiscate and appropriate to their own use divers large quantities of merchandise and other effects, the property of and belonging to the above named parties."

The early citizens said that during the affray six persons were killed, and a number of horses and cattle were also killed, and that the stream ran red with blood down to the Juniata. The remains of a human being were found on the spot many years ago. It is unknown whether any Indians were killed.

These goods were not paid for, and the Philadelphia merchants were forced to
extreme methods. Some of these traders were thrown into jail for debt and died there. They applied for compensation but without success. The Six Nations granted them a large tract of land as compensation but the grant was never confirmed, either by Virginia or the Crown.

In consequence of this destruction of goods a long and bitter controversy arose between the officers of Fort Loudon and the Black Boys and their friends. Arrests and counter arrests were made, and finally the bitter animosity against the commanding officer of the fort, among the people of the neighborhood, forced him to leave for Fort Pitt.

It may be considered a settled fact that the little stream received the name
"Bloody Run," from the above-mentioned attack of the Indians on traders. As
confirmatory evidence, the records of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Bedford county, show that on the 14th of July, 1772, some eight or nine years after the event, a petition of the inhabitants of Barree and Colerain townships was presented for a road from Standing Stone, near Huntingdon, up through Woodcock Valley to the Great road near Bloody Run. Unadvisedly, the name of this historic Bloody Run was

(p. 22)

changed by the Court of Quarter Sessions on February 13, 1873, to Everett in
honor of Edward Everett of Massachusetts.

DESTRUCTION OF TRADERS' GOODS BY THE BLACK BOYS IN 1765

Although there existed treaties of peace yet, through the refusal of the Shawnee and other tribes to comply with the conditions thereof, the Governor
delayed issuing his proclamation of peace and declaration that the trade was
again open. Two years and three months had already elapsed from the date of
the treaty of 1763 and during all this time the trade was closed and therefore it was natural for the traders to chafe with impatience and to look forward with great anxiety to the time when they could again safely embark in their old business. Both the Government and Indians, generally, desired the trade to be opened, but the settlers near Fort Loudon, who had suffered so much from the Indian incursions, did not understand or approve the selling of contraband articles to the Indians as they had been used and they feared would again be used against them. They therefore determined that so long as a war cloud, however small, remained on the horizon no goods contraband of war should be permitted to pass through their settlement to the west. Therefore, when Messrs. Baynton and Wharton sent a convoy of goods from Philadelphia to Fort Pitt in wagons in February 1765 and the intelligence reached Captain Smith, he was incited to immediate action.

The convoy arrived at Fort Loudon about March 5, the goods were loaded upon 70 pack horses and were started westward. Captain Smith issued a call for his company of Black Boys and they promptly responded; they waylaid the convoy near Scrub Ridge on the old road leading from McConnellsburg to Sideling Hill and demanded that the goods be taken back, for they believed that if the Indians should now get a supply the frontier inhabitants would again be exposed to Indian atrocities. The traders refused to do so, thereupon the Black Boys killed their horses, compelled them to collect their loads in one place and leave. Then the stores, consisting of blankets, shirts, vermilion, lead, beads, wampum, tomahawks, scalping knives, guns, powder, etc., were burned. The act was justified on the ground that the goods had been illegally sent out three months before the road was declared open. However upon the receipt of intelligence of the final treaty with the Indians and the submission of the

(p. 23)

Shawnee and other recusant tribes, Governor Penn issued his proclamation on
June 4, 1776, deciding that "all intercourse and trade with the several nations and tribes of Indians in amity shall be free and open to all persons residing in this Province who shall be licensed."

RAYSTOWN, 1750; FORT BEDFORD, 1759

The first white person who located on the present site of Bedford was Robert Ray who founded a trading post on the bottom land on the north bank of the
Juniata in or about 1750. He built one or more log cabins for the purpose of
exchanging his goods and wares with the Indians for their furs and pelts, and entertaining other traders. Heretofore very little was known in regard to him; even his surname was unknown and his sudden disappearance baffled all the writers on historic Raystown.

For this and other valuable information the grateful acknowledgement of our
people should be given to John H. P. Adams, Esq. Robert Ray was of Scotch-Irish lineage, and very likely he originally settled in Cumberland Valley together with hundreds of those brave and hardy people who made their homes there in 1732 and from there came to the Juniata region in 1750. Mr. Adams says that he fell sick in 1756 and was taken by his cousin Joseph Powell and three other friends to Powell's house.

While there he got somewhat better and went to the house of John Perrin, some six miles distant, where, after a few days, he died. His remains were
buried on Perrin's farm, now owned by the heirs of Mr. Dicken, in Southamptontownship, where his grave may now be seen. Perrin was married to Ray's sister.

I think Mr. Adams is mistaken as to the date when Ray was taken to Powell's
house in saying it was in 1756; it must have been early in 1752, for in that
year Garrett Pendergrass opened his trading post, erected three buildings and cleared 50 acres of land, and from that date Ray's Post was generally called "Pendergrass' Place" by the traders, Indians, and especially by Harris in his letter of 1754. However, the fact that he first settled at Raystown has passed his name down a century and a half and probably it may continue to go down through future centuries, well marked by four natural monuments--Raystown, Raystown branch of the Juniata river, Ray's Hill and Ray's Cove, over all of which passed the great Indian trail from Harris' Ferry, through Raystown, to the Ohio river. (In the early records this cove was

(p. 24)

called "the Harbor," from its enclosure on the north by Harbor Mt., which
really is a mountain and is a northwest continuation of Ray's Hill.)

The second settlement was made by Garrett Pendergrass in 1752. It is very
probable that Pendergrass was of Norman-French extraction, whose ancestors
passed over to England with William the Conqueror, for the name appears in
English history, and from thence he came to America with the Scotch-Irish and with them settled in Cumberland Valley. The name also appears in the records of Cumberlandcounty during the Revolutionary War. After the defeat of General Braddock's army, Pendergrass fled with his family to Fort Lyttleton where, in 1757, his young daughter was mercilessly killed and scalped by marauding Indians in sight of the fort. It is very probable that Pendergrass returned to Raystown soon after General Forbes' army reached the place in 1758.

In December 1754 Governor Sharp of Maryland wrote to Governor Morris of
Pennsylvania to inquire about Garrett Pendergrass, Indian trader on the Juniata, as a person well acquainted with the back country.

The reply, dated January 7, 1755, says: "He keeps a public house at Raystown, is a little addicted to drink but knows the woods extremely well and might serve in the capacity of a guide."

Pendergrass presented a petition to Governor Penn on October 10, 1766, which
fully explains his settlement. It is dated at Philadelphia, but in it he claims a residence in the town of Bedford:

"Your petitioner in 1752 settled on the very tract of land on which the aforesaid town of Bedford is now, by virtue of your Honor's warrant laid out. That your petitioner at his own proper cost and expense, did erect and build on the premises a good and substantial round-log house of 24 feet square, well shingled, and had cleared 40 or 50 acres of land, when in 1755 he was obliged to fly before the Indian enemy, who laid waste all that country, burnt your petitioner's house and destroyed all his improvements. That the king's generals made the Fort Bedford on your petitioner's improvements, and an enclosure for pasturing horses and cattle. And since the king's troops evacuated that fort and the avenues, the improvements of your petitioner have been sur-

(p. 25)

veyed, under your Honor's warrant aforesaid, for the use of the Honorable
Proprietaries."

He then asks for recompense. It also appears by a deed of the chiefs of the Six Nations, dated February 1770, that they authorize him to settle on a tract of land opposite Fort Pitt, in lieu of the Raystown tract. It is very doubtful whether he ever recovered any compensation. (The tract of land opposite Fort Pitt is the present site of Allegheny.) He lived in Colerain township in 1772 and soon thereafter died.

William Fredrigill settled near Raystown in 1755 but soon thereafter he was
driven away by the Indians and his buildings were burned. His tract of land was also included in the Manor in 1761. In 1764 Fredrigill sold his claim to John Ormsby, who made some improvements and some time after moved to Pittsburg, where he became one of the leading and richest citizens. In 1774 Ormsby made application to the Board of Property for some relief.

It is quite possible that there were other settlers at Raystown prior to 1756, but if so their names are unknown. The first mention of Raystown in the public records is In 1754 by John Harris in his account of the trail from Harris' Ferry to the Forks of the Ohio. He affirms that he rode from Raystown to the Ferry in that year, 126 miles, in two days. In all the correspondence between the government and the military officers from 1755 the town was invariably called Raystown or Camp Raystown up to August 13, 1759, when Gen. John Stanwix, the commander-in-chief, named it Fort Bedford, which name it retained until the town of Bedford was surveyed and laid out by order of the Governor in 1766. According to tradition, the Duke of Bedford, prime minister of the English government, presented to the commander of the fort a beautiful silken English flag in appreciation of the honor. This flag is still in an excellent state of preservation in Bedford.

BEDFORD

On May 5, 1766, the Governor issued this order, "the Surveyor General, John
Lukens, will, with all convenience, speedily repair to the place called Fort Bedford, in Cumberland county, upon the waters of the Juniata, and lay out a
town there, to be called Bedford, into 200 lots." Between June 4th and 10th the town was located. The streets running east and west were named

(p. 26)

Pitt (next to the river), Penn and John; those running north and south were
named East or Shelbourne, Bedford, Richard, Juliana, Thomas and West. The
streets were all named after the Penn family except, Bedford, East and West,
and Pitt, which was named after the great English Premier. The streets were
made wide, with alleys 20 feet in width, and a large square in the centre of the town was set apart for public use.

The situation of the town is grand and picturesque. A writer, on approaching
Bedford, said, "The spot on which it stands seems to have been scooped out by the hands of God." As the mountains are about Jerusalem so they stand around Bedford and make it "beautiful of situation." On the east Dunning's mountain sweeps down from the northwest with a majestic curve to the beautiful canyon of the Juniata, whereas Evitt's mountain--it bends rapidly but gracefully to the southwest, presenting an unbroken semi-circular wall over 500 feet in height for a distance of 25 miles, both northward and southward. On the west Wills' mountain rises gradually from a broken hill for a distance of two miles to the southwest and then ascends very rapidly to Kinton's Knob, and there towers upwards of 1,000 feet and, like a sentinel, overlooks the hills, the valleys and the farms of Bedfordcounty and a considerable portion of Maryland. Between these mountain ramparts nestles the beautiful little Cumberland valley. Midway in the valley Central Hill, a massive limestone geological upheaval, stands over 300 feet in height, with a trend from northeast to southwest traversing the valley from Bedford to Cumberland, and also extending northward.

The Juniatariver in some early cataclysm rent asunder the very heart of the
hill and left on each side a rock-jutting promontory, a silent but eternal witness of its Titanic force. The northern bluff is known as Anderson's Hill, so called after its owner, Dr. John Anderson. The southern is known as Barclay's Hill, so called after its owner, Col. Hugh Barclay. On account of the conformation of the hills Bedford sits queen-like, enthroned on the gentle slopes of Barclay's Hill with the azure dome for a crown, the enfolding green hills for a vesture and the blue Juniata for a laver. The town is founded upon a rock.

The great charm of Bedford is in its beautiful and ever-changing scenery
which never grows monotonous. The eye never tires of gazing at the flitting
shades and shadows on the mountain

(p. 27)

sides. Whichever way the eye may turn a new and lovely panorama breaks upon
it. The scenic effect of the hills, the mountains, the valleys, the streams, the reflected shadows of the clouds and the gorgeous sunsets are grand and
enrapturing.

The Memories of "Ye Old Folks" cluster around the green hills and mountains,
the lovely and fertile vales, the Blue Juniata, the Island, the old Wooden Bridge, the Green Lane, the Old Mill, the Mineral Spring, the large bubbling
Limestone Spring, Boydstown and the numerous swimming holes.

The town of Bedford was duly incorporated by an act of the Legislature on March 13, 1795. Up to this date it was part of Bedfordtownship, which had
been formed by the Cumberland County Court in 1769.

Heretofore it has generally been supposed that no organization had been effected under this act and that its organization had not taken place until 1817, under a new act of Assembly of that date. But this supposition has been shown to be incorrect by the important discovery among The Gazette papers by S. A. Van Ormer of a very interesting minute book containing the proceedings of the Bedford borough council from the first Monday in May 1802 up to August 21, 1813. This leaves an interval of seven years from 1795 to 1802 and one from 1813 to 1817 to be accounted for.

On August 27, 1802, an ordinance was passed authorizing the Burgess "to contract for the repairing of the market house." This certainly indicates that the borough was duly organized before 1802, otherwise no market house could or would have been in existence.

The election of officers in May 1802 resulted as follows: Terrence Campbell, Chief Burgess; John Scott, Burgess; Jacob Bonnett, Anthony Naugle and Jacob
Fletcher, Assistant Burgesses; Mathias Zimmers, High Constable; Chris. Reiley, Town Clerk. These officers, on August 17, 1802, appointed Martin Reiley and Henry Werth, Jr., regulators of the streets, etc. In the same year William Reynolds and John Lyon were elected Assessors, and Robert Spencer and Thomas Anderson, Supervisors.

DESTRUCTION OF TRADERS' GOODS BY THE BLACK BOYS, NEAR THE CROSSINGS, 1769

Between the years 1767 and 1769 the Indians became greatly dissatisfied and
discontented and there was imminent danger of a

(p. 28)

general war on account of the obstinate and persistent settlements of the white people upon their lands. In order to satisfy the Indians and preserve
peace the Government adopted drastic measures.

The settlers west of the Allegheny mountains were forcibly removed and their
cabins burned, and by law a return was made punishable by death. The
Pennsylvania Gazette in July and October 1769 mentions the great probability of another war and says: "The Indians are insolent, robbing houses, stealing
horses and threatening the inhabitants."

Whether there was just cause for alarm or not the settlers of the Conococheague Valley believed that such danger did exist. And, notwithstanding such a probability of war with the Indians, the traders continued carrying goods and warlike stores through their settlement to Fort Pitt. Some time in August 1769 Capt. Robert Callender, who had been connected with Baynton & Wharton in 1763 and 1765, sent a convoy of goods to
Fort Loudon on their way westward.

In regard to this affair, Capt. James Smith says: "In the year 1769 the Indians again made incursions on the frontiers; yet, the traders continued carrying goods and warlike stores, and a number of persons collected, destroyed and plundered a quantity of their powder, lead, etc., in Bedfordcounty."

It appears that the Black Boys on being apprised that the convoy was on the way, went ahead of the traders, and formed an ambuscade on the banks of the
Juniata river, near the Crossings. On the 10th of August 1769, about one and
one-half miles beyond the crossings of the Juniata, a number of men with their faces black, and disguised, stopped the convoy and destroyed the goods.

An eye-witness says the Black Boys would neither permit the traders to go back nor to proceed with the goods but compelled them to stop on the spot at once and afterward made them go so far out of the way that they could not have a full view of the proceedings. In a few minutes they heard the crash of casks, and the explosion of gunpowder, which were followed by a general huzza. Then Captain Limes went forward and the Black Boys fled. Everything was blown up.

Capt. Robert Callender was the owner of the goods destroyed and he subsequently applied to the Legislature for relief, stating his losses at about six hundred pounds, but the probability is that

(p. 29)

he got nothing. But peace was only preserved by the purchase of the lands at
Fort Stanwix in 1768, which lie west of the Allegheny mountains. A number of
the Black Boys and a few other persons were arrested for this offence and
placed in irons in Fort Bedford.

THE CAPTURE OF FORT BEDFORD, 1769

After this imprisonment Captain Smith collected 18 of his old Black Boys and
by night marched to Bedford where they concealed themselves at the foot of
the hill on the banks of the Juniata; there they lay until the gate of the fort was opened. On being informed by a scout that three sentinels were standing on the wall, that the guards were taking a morning dram and that the arms were stacked together in one place, they rushed into the fort, and as it was a misty morning the sentinels scarcely saw them until they were within the gate and had taken possession of the arms. Two of the sentinels discharged their arms, evidently aimlessly. They then raised a shout which surprised the town though some of the people were well pleased at the release of the prisoners. A blacksmith was compelled to take the fetters off the prisoners and when they left the place Captain Smith exultingly exclaimed, "This is the first British fort taken by American rebels."

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