The Kadoka press and Kadoka reporter. [volume] (Kadoka, S.D.) 1910-1923, 1923-04-13

field Highway which will be dis
tributed from the Exhibit Tent
That the Inman family have had
long experience with the Indians is
shown by the following story relat-
ed TO us by Mr.. Inman. the facts
set forth connecting his forefath-
ers with the early history of the
Indians, Indian wars and Massacres
being from the pen of Edward S.
Ellis:
: The early history of our country
rs full of strange occurances, but
! the story which | am about to tell
! is, in my opinion, the most remark
able of them all. Let me say at
once that the Incidents which fol-
/ low are strictly true in every par
! ticular. You will notice that |
/ give dates and names, for there is
no reason why | should not. |
have talked with many old men
whose fathers were close friends Of
the leading actors in that sad blow
which fell upon Wyoming Valley
in the early days of July. l77S. One
of these was a clergyman who help
ID to dig up the remains of the
Victims many years aftcrward, and
to remove them to a spot where n
beautiful monument has been cr
ectcd to their memory.
Here it is necessary to give few
historical facts. Early in the
spring of l77S the inhabitants of
Wyoming Valley learned that a
raid was to be made upon the set
tlcment by large force Of British,
Tories and Indians. The situation
could not have been worse. Wyom-
ing was the only considerable post
above the Blue Ridge, and very
nearly all the able-bodied men were
absent in the Continental army
Aware of the peril, General Schuy-
Ter addressed the Board of War,
and the officers and men whose
homes were in the valley remons-
tratcd. Congress gave no heed un-
til the middle of March, when it
isasscd an extraordinary resolution
which called for the raising Of n
company in the town of Westmorc-
land for the defense of the place
and neighhorhood, 10 serve for one
year unless sooner discharged by
Congress. W." tl,io was to lie donc
Whcn the mcn were not there tC
be enlisted was problem which
the Board Of War did not try So
solve. Moreover, the projected com
pany was ordered to furnish its
own arms, accoutcrmcntS, and
blankets, Of which the region had
already been drained.
Left to themselves, the few who
remained set bravely to work and
did what they could to prepare for
/ the blow that was certain to fall
In the month of May scouting part
/ les collided with those of the en-
emy less than twenty miles from
/ the settlement. Shots were eX-
changed, but no one was hurt, and
the invaders withdrew. William
Crook, while coming out of an alb
andoned house, was shot dead. lie
was the first white man killed II
Westmoreland by the Indians. 9th
,r skirmishes followed in which Ii
ycs were lost, and the danger De
came so alarming that the people
in the outer settlements fled to the
forts and sent messages to theil
relatives in the army Begging
them TO come to their help at once
Congress would not permit then
to do so, and many of the indig
nant officers resigned, while NOR
than "a score of privates deserted
and made haste to Wyoming. Fin
ally, seven days before the battle
Congress ordered that two comp
anies already raised should marcl
to Lancaster. and shortly afte
(but too latc) to Wyoming. 1t wa
: learned that the enemy were gath
ering at Newton and Tioga and pr
pairing boats and canoes in whic'
: TO dccend the river. All the me
in the valley capable Of bearing
arms were called out and drilled
: Most OF them were grandfather
| and boys in their teens. The fort
were crowded with women an
children, Wilkesbarre Fort had
: single four-pounder but not ba
, that would fit the piece, and it SCI
we'd only as an alarm gun.
5 Four hundred British provincial
, consisting of Colonel John Butler
5 Rangers, and detachment of 81
: John Johnson's Royal Greens. wit
l Tories, from Pennsylvania, Me-
2 York and New Jersey, including a
< so seven hundrer Indians descende
: the Sesquehanna from Tioga Poir
@ and landed on the west side of III
a river, about twenty miles above II
Valley, marching across the penii
a sula, they arrived on the wester