Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-09

struction was finished, and the sun rose
upon the smoking ruins. There was not q
moment to lose, for says Armstrong; re-
port:
A body Of the enemy on the other side Of the
| river fired on our people, and being seen to
| cross the river at distance, as il to surround
our men, they collected some Indian horses
found near the town to carry of the wounded
and retreated, without going back to the corn.
field to pick up the scalps Of those killed there
in the beginning Of the action.
Taking with. them the released prisoners,
the troops hurried back to the woods where
their horses were corralled, mounted in
haste, and made their way homeward as
silently and cautiously as they had come.
The fact that body of the enemy fred
upon Armstrong; party from the opposite
side of the river seems further to confirm
the testimony of the rescued prisoners con-
cerning the proposed attack upon Fort
Shirley. It is reasonable to suppose that
they were a body destined for the exped1-
tion, arriving thus early at the rendezvous.
The astonishment and alarm of the Ohio
tribes at this direful visitation of the colon
lists put an end to their outrages for some
time to come. On the frontier feeling of
security was, in a measure, restored, and
the settlers in large numbers returned to the
homes they had abandoned. 1t is pleasing
to note in connection with this daring ex-
plot of Armstrong; militia that the popu-
lous town of the white men, with its
foundries and rolling mills, and its beau
tiful homes and churches that now covers
the site of the old Indian rallying place, has
not been rechristened, but retains the musi-
cal Delaware name of Kittanning. Hecke-
welder, the best authority on Lenni Lenape
signi6cstions, says it is corruption of Kit
han-nink, which means the main stream, or
on the main stream, and with the Della
wares denoted the stream as we'll as the
town.
HoNoRS FOR THE HEROES.
1t is also in accordance with the eternal
fitness of things that the county of which
Kittanning is the capital, bears the name OF
Armstrong, in honor of the man who by
signal act of retaliation opened the way Tor
Its settlement. The corporation Of Phila-
delphia presented Colonel Armstrong with
piece of plate, and also gave to him aud to
each of his officers a silver medal and to
every private in the troop a medal and q
small present of money in recognition of
their intrepid conduct on the expedition.
The treaty OF FOntainbleau did not bring
to the borders the. tranquility SO earnestly
hoped for, and not until after the close of
Pontiac's war was there actual safety for
settlers beyond the shadow of the forts.
After few years, however, the remnants of
such tribes as remained north of the Ohio.
being now at peace with the English emf
grants, tempted by the cheap and fertile
land, began to push farther West and North
on The manor tracts Of Pennsylvania.
With these came James KirkDatrick, of
Franklin county, Pa, bringing with him
his wife and three children, the Youngest
not yet year old. They crossed the Ale
gheny river at the point where, a quarter of
century before, had stood the Indian town
of Kittapning. Here they piled their house
hold effects on the backs of pack horses and
pushed into the wilderness some ten miles
beyond and to little stream called Cherry
run.