former dwellings at the mouth of the creek, which they found in the same condition as that in which they had been left in the preceding autumn; and commenced their labors by extending their improvements upon the west side of the river.

The Indians in the valley were apparently friendly, but this was only the smiling mask which concealed the bitterest passions, for while unsuspicious, and occupied as usual with the labors of the field, the whites were attacked on the 15th of October by a party of Indians, who massacred about twenty persons, took several prisoners, and, having seized upon the live stock, drove it toward their town. Those who escaped hastened to their dwellings, gave the alarm to the families of those who were killed, and the remainder of the colonists, men, women, and children, fled precipitately to the mountains, from whence they beheld the smoke arising from their late habitations, and the savages feasting on the remains of their little property. They had taken no provisions with them except what they hastily seized in their flight; and now must pass through a wilderness sixty miles in extent before they could reach the Delaware River. They had left brothers, husbands, and sons to the mercy of the savages; they had no means of defense in case they should be attacked, and they

found themselves exposed to the cold winds of autumn without sufficient raiment. With these melancholy recollections and cheerless prospects did the fugitives commence a journey of two hundred and fifty miles on foot. Language can not describe their sufferings as they traveled through the wilderness, destitute of food and clothing, on their way to their former homes.

NEW BANDS OF

COLONISTS.

But the sturdy sons of New England were unmoved and unfaltering in their purpose to go up and possess the land.

Colonists and emigrants from this time forward came into the valley, and though they were liable to be startled by the war-whoop of the relentless savages, and to be called from their beds at the dread hour of night to witness the sad sight of peaceful abodes wrapt in flames, or to see father, mother, brother, son, butchered or tortured it might be, and they themselves perhaps compelled to look on the while in speechless agony; they still nerved themselves to bear their misery and privations like men, waiting for those peaceful and happy times which would surely come for them, or, at least, for their children. Noble and brave men, noble and self-sacrificing women! they did not count their lives dear; they endured bitter hardships; they have entered upon their rest; but now their children and their chil

dren's children are in the quiet and unmolested possession of that for which they so bravely fought and suffered. The clods of the valley have been heaped over their resting-places, and, though many of their graves are unknown and undistinguished, their memory is cherished, and the story of the privations they endured, the valor they displayed upon many a wellfought field, or in limited and personal encounters, is not forgotten, and their deeds recounted at the winter fireside, written out by the historian, and strung in lofty numbers by great poets. Thus, what with battling the Indian without, and strifes and contentions within, growing out of conflicting claims to the territory of Wyoming, passed years that included in their progress the war of the Revolution. Although remote from the scene of its origin, where during its first years the battle raged, and hoping to enjoy exemption from its stern realities, the colony struggled along, yet the time came when Wyoming was destined to receive again the baptism of blood.

THE STORY OF THE GREAT MASSACRE. For a season after the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, Wyoming was allowed a state of com

parative repose. The government of Pennsylvania was changed by the removal of the proprietaries or successors of Penn, and the formation of a new constitution; and both Connecticut and Pennsylvania had other and more important demands upon their attention than the disputes of rival claimants for a remote and sequestered territory. Notwithstanding the remoteness of its position, and its peculiar exposure to the attacks of the enemy, rendered more perilous from its contiguity to the territory of the Six Nations, the people of Wyoming were prompt to assume the cause of their country, and, as early as the 1st of August, 1775, in town meeting they voted, "that we will unanimously join our brethren of America in the common cause of defending our country."

THE

WYOMING

COMPANIES.

A census had been taken, and the whole population of the several towns of the valley now acknowledging the jurisdiction of Connecticut was computed at about two thousand five hundred souls. Two companies of regular troops, of eighty-two men each, were raised, and commanded by Captains Ransom and Durkee. These companies were mustered and counted as part of the Connecticut levies, and attached to the Connecticut line. They were moreover efficient soldiers, having been engaged in the brilliant affair of Millstone,

the bloody and untoward battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and in the terrible cannonade of Mudbank. It will thus be seen that a considerable draft had been made upon the fighting materials of this colony, and her sons had been called away to fight "freedom's battles" at other and distant points. But, in the mean time, the war was brought home to them-to their doors even.

THE

BRITISH

AND INDIANS.

The Indians of the. Six Nations were brought into the field against the Colonies in the summer of 1777, and shortly after they, in conjunction with the British forces, organized a plan of attack on Wyoming. It was too successful. There were no settlements contiguous to Wyoming upon which they might call for aid in case of sudden emergency. It was distant from any outpost; an isolated community, almost embosomed in the country of a savage enemy. The Six Nations, ever the most dreaded upon the war-path, occupied all the upper branches of the Susquehanna, and were within a few hours' sail of the Plantations.

Thus situated, there had been a conventional understanding between the government and the people of Wyoming, that the regular troops enlisted among them should be stationed there, for the defense of the valley;