The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1915-02-11
INTERESTING HISTORY.
Chapter Two, Of Mr.. J. A. Stewards
Historical Articles. Indian Trad.
erS Thwarted.

will try this week to show
what a great victory without a
battle was gained by our ances-
tors who were the first white set
tiers in valleys of Fulton coun-
ty. You remember | stated in
chapter one that beginning with
1755, Col. Forbes opened a road
from Fort Loudon to Raystown-
now Bedford. This road is
known to this day as the Forbes
road. The Chambersburg and
Bedford Turnpike road crosses
and recrosses the Forbes road a
number of times. The Forbes
road is distinctly traceable over
the mountains and across the val
leys all the way; rarely we lose
sight of it as we travel the Lin
coin Highway. Well, this victory
was gained on the east side Of
Sideling Hill on the Forbes road.
1t was in March 1765, about
ten years after this famous road
had been opened. We have ma
ny reasons to believe that a good
ly number of whites had settled
in the valleys along this road.
Some think that families now
having large progenies, such as
the Mellotts, Deshongs, Sipes,
&c., were the first white set
tiers in Licking Creek Valley; but
there is nothing certain as to
that. What we do know is that
Fort Loudon and Fort Littleton
had been established some time
prior to the opening of the For
bes road, for the express purpose
of giving refuge to the frontier
white settlers and to protect their
and their food supplies,
and that settlers had time and
time again been compelled to flee
to these places of refuge-history
makes that all plain and indis-
putable. At the time of this vic
tory for the white settlers, it was
well known that the Indians were
destitute of the munitions of war
and the settlers felt more safe,
but withal they were even more
watchful and mistrustful of the
Indians and the detested traders;
and so for their self protection
the white settlers had organized
a band of determined men called
the BLACK Boys" and as this
brief history progresses the read
er will the more fully see the
of this organization.
Early in March 1765, an un-
scrupulous and detested trader
named Wharton, of Philadelphia,
knowing that the Indians were
destitute of munitions of war,
determined that he would be first
to supply them, so he sent forth |
under employees a 70-pack horse |
train loaded with supplies for the |
Indians to the value of f3, 900 or
about $14, 520, consisting of whis-
ky, tomahawks, rifles, powder, |
flint, lead, &c. intending to be
first in the market at Fort Pitt, |
(now Pittsburg) and being we'll
aware that his enterprise would
be viewed with suspicion by the
frontier white folks, he instruct
I'd his employees to say that all
The goods were consigned to
George Egan, Deputy Indian A
gent under Sir. VIM. Johnson at
Fort Pitt. The BLACK Boys"
lid not believe this story as told
by Warthon's employees, and fur
;her discovered that a large quan
,ity of spirits, and warlike stores
we're included in the trainloads. !
This alarmed the country west of
he Susquehanna, and especially
he frontier settlers. One Will
lam Duffield raised fifty armed
nen and met the pack train in
he Kittochtiny (now Cumber-
and) Valley, and requested the
to store up their goods
ind not go on until further or
lers. This the employees refus-
d to do, and went on over the