The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-10-02
WHOLE NO. 23O5.

with the Cumberland county prOvin-
cials under Generals Armstrong and
Bouquet, until the savages We're whip
ped into submission and sued for peace.
The settlers, in view of Smiths expc-
! rience aud the hatred he must have
had toward the Indians, chose him for
their leader when the "Black Boys
were first organized. These traders
had sent their goods by pack-hOrse
train, and were frequently valuable,
one train having been sent out o! Phil
adelphia by trader named Wharton,
in March, I755, valued at three thou
sands pounds, or about fifteen thousand
dollars. He expected to be first i'm the
market at Fort Pitt, rs Fort Duquesne
was then called, after the English occu-
pied it, and he was well aware that his
enterprise would he viewed with sus-
/ picion by the back inhabitants a.
/ he called them; 40 he denied being the
owner of the goods, declaring they were
consigned TO George Croghan, Deputy
son. The "Black Boys, however,
| did no; believe the story told by WhaT-
tons employees, and discovering that
/ the train was largely composed of war
like material, the whole was destroyed
on Sideling Hill. Smith said, in
speaking of this afterwards, that, not
withstanding the Kings proclamation
prohibiting any person trading with
the Indians, this train was sent ''lOad-
ed with Indian goods and warlike
stOres-to Henry Pollens, Coneco-
cheague, in wagons, then loaded on
pack-hOrses for Fort Pitt"
Mr.. William DJffield, with fifty
armed men, met pack-horses where
Mercersburg now stands. He desired
the employees 10 store up the goods,
which they refused to do, and they
proceeded towards Great Cove. Duf-
field followed and again urged them to
store the goods, telling them Of the inn
propriety of selling such goods 10 the
Indians, and of the great danger to the
frontier inhabitants, should the In
dians be supplied with munitions of
war. Notwithstanding his reasoning,
they only made fun of him. After
these repeated efforts Smith says that
next day he took forty Of his boys,
armed, with their faces BACKED, and
waylaid them at Sideling Hill. They
directed their fire towards the horses,
they themselves being concealed in
the bushes aud when the pack-men
saw their horses falling all around
them, they soon wanted to come to
terms, and inquired of the concealed
enemy what they wanted them To do.
The reply was: Collect all your loads
to the front, unload them in one place,
take your private property, and imme-
diately retire" When they were gone,
Smith says his men burned the goods,
shirts, blankets, vermilion, lead, beads,
wampum, tOmahawks, scaiping-knives
etc. The traders then went 70 the COM
manding officer at Fort Loudon, and
got party OF Highland soldiers 10 20
back 10 capture the robbers, a. they
called them. \ number of innocent
persons were captured and confined in
the fort smith then raised three hun
dred rilemen, marched to the fort and
went into camp. They made reprisals
by capturing a number Of British
troops, and soon had more Of them
than they had of the alleged ''Black
Boys" The commander sent flag Of
truce To Smith, cartel was arranged,
and by giving about two for one, he
was soon able TO redeem all his men
from the gGard-hOuse and, a. they
were innocent Of any overt act, they
soon returned to their homes.
y profound sensation was created
throughout the provinces OF New York
and Pennsylvania 10y this act Of the
"B.ac& boys" An animt.el cores
ponience took place between G,lc-ii
Gaze, commander Of the British forces
in America, and Governor John Penn,
of Pennsylvania. PrOclaTnations were
issued and depositions taken, al! Of
which are preserved in the minutes of
/ Provincial Council. VoluminOus let
tiers were written pro and con by inter-
4 ested parties on both sides. While the
proceedings of the BLACK Boys" were
unlawful to degree, Yet there did not
seem to be any necessity for the Won
derful exaggerations displayed in all
the reports and correspondence relating
10 the affair. Great efforts were made
To capture and punish Captain Smith
and his band of regulators, but they
were futile; and in the vicinity OF forts
Loudon and Bedford, they continued
to make life burdensome to the arrO-
CANT British soldiers, and more e.
pecially the INSCRIPTIONS Indian ira
ders, for several years. They made il
almost impossible for the traders to
succeed in getting over the Allegheny
mountains with train of pack-hOrses,
and it was only when securely guarded
that they could succeed in doing 80.
In l709 Smith captured Fort Bedford.
the most lawless and fearless achieve
ment Of his l;fe. Smith, in explaining
the occurrence, says: ''In the year 1869,
the Indians, after n season Of eom-
parative quiet, made excursions on the
frontiers, and still the traders carried
goods TO them on every possible oc-
cssion. The people on the frontiers
became alarmed, and a number of
persons collected and destroyed n
quantity of powder and lead in Bed
ford" Some Of these persons and
others were captured and put in irons
in the guard-house in Fort Bedford.
Smith says he did not altogether ap-
prove of the conduct of the BLACK
Boys" in this matter; still, he did not
propose that they should lie in irons in
the fort He resolved to release them
and let them be tried by civil law
afterwards. 80 he collected number
Of his ''Black Boys who had seen
service in Indian wars, and who had
also been faithful to him i'm his nu-
merOus raids on the traders. He did
not want large party, for various