Big Runaway The Big Runaway was a mass evacuation in June and July 1778 of settlers from the frontier areas of what is now north central Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War . A major campaign by Loyalists and Native Americans allied with the British devastated the small communities on the northern and western branches of the Susquehanna River , prompting local militia leaders to order the evacuation . Most of the settlers relocated to Fort Augusta at modern day Sunbury at the confluence of the North and West Branches of the Susquehanna River , while their abandoned houses and farms were all burnt . Some settlers returned soon after , but the attacks were renewed the following year , leading to a second evacuation known as The Little Runaway . These attacks on the Pennsylvania frontier led to retaliatory scorched earth tactics by the American army against the Native Americans , including Sullivan ' s Expedition , which destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages . Background . In 1768 the Colony of Pennsylvania and the Iroquois Confederacy signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix , in which the boundary between colonial and Iroquois lands was adjusted in the colony ' s favor in exchange for some financial considerations and other guarantees . Settlers soon began arriving in the area ( known as the " New Purchase " ) and increased settlements along the West Branch of the Susquehanna helped lead to the formation of Northumberland County in 1772 . The settlements along the river were in what are now parts of Northumberland , Union , Lycoming , and Clinton Counties . The New Purchase territory extended as far west as " Tiadaghton Creek " . The identity of this creek was disputed , with the colonists claiming it was Pine Creek ( further west , giving them more territory ) , while the Iroquois claimed it was Lycoming Creek ( further east ) . The colonial government recognized Lycoming Creek as the boundary , so settlements made to its west violated the treaty . Despite this , there were settlers west of Lycoming Creek and west of Pine Creek about to modern day Lock Haven . Because they fell outside the colony ' s bounds , the settlers in this area received no protection or government from colony , so they formed their own system of self - rule , known as the Fair Play system . When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775 , most of the settlers in that area were favored independence from Great Britain and supported the Patriot cause . About 75 soldiers from the territory that became Lycoming County served in the Continental Army , but the West Branch of the Susquehanna valley soon became a front in the war as well . According to tradition , the Fair Play Men made their own Declaration of Independence from Britain at the mouth of Pine Creek on July 4 , 1776 , unaware of the Continental Congress ' Declaration . There had always been tensions between the settlers and natives , with some attacks , especially in the " Fair Play " area . This became more serious in the winter of 1777 – 78 , when two settlers were killed by Native Americans in separate incidents , and two Native Americans in a party of nine were killed by Colonel John Antes and his men in a skirmish after . Later a party of Native American raiders who had plundered along Buffalo Creek , near Lewisburg in Union County were stopped near modern Jersey Shore in Lycoming County and their booty was recovered . British - Iroquois planning . As part of General John Burgoyne ' s failed 1777 campaign for the Hudson River , the British in Quebec recruited large numbers of Native Americans , some of whom participated in Burgoyne ' s campaign . Quebec ' s Governor Guy Carleton had previously restricted their use in Quebec territory ( which at that time encompassed the Iroquois lands now in Pennsylvania ) and specifically refused to release supplies for expeditions beyond the treaty line . Carleton was , however , ordered by Secretary of State George Germain to expand recruitment in May 1777 . This Carleton did , encouraging and funding John Butler at Fort Niagara for the purpose . During the winter of 1777 – 78 , Butler , Mohawk leader Joseph Brant , and Seneca leaders Cornplanter and Sayenqueraghta planned operations for the 1778 campaign season . These allies could not immediately agree on actions to take , but in a December 1777 meeting the Iroquois expressed a desire to launch " a very formidable irruption with their whole collected force " against the frontier . The Seneca leaders in particular sought to target the Susquehanna ' s west branch , since it provided access to their lands in what is now western New York . After first campaigning further south ( in what is now West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania ) , parties of Seneca , Cayuga , and Lenape warriors began moving into the upper Susquehanna valley . Raiding campaign . On May 16 , 1778 three settlers were killed by Native Americans near the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek , and three men , seven women , and several children were captured by Native Americans in two attacks over the next four days . Later in May three settler families on Loyalsock Creek were wiped out : their cabins were burnt , two were killed , and fourteen disappeared , presumed captured by Native Americans . In separate incidents in late May , three settlers ( a man , woman and boy ) were taken prisoner near modern Linden in Woodward Township , and three Fair Play men were killed ( while one escaped ) as they tried to get a boat to evacuate their families to Fort Horn at the mouth of Pine Creek . Near modern Lock Haven a skirmish led to the wounding of one Native American and one Fair Play man . The local militias were short of men ( as many had joined the army ) , weapons , and supplies . The Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania was focused on supplying the army and levied taxes , which were in some cases more than the net worth of the individual settlers . Despite pleas from the settlers for more assistance , the colonial government did not send help initially , but as the West Branch Susquehanna valley became a new theater of the war , the council reconsidered the matter . On May 21 , 1778 it pledged to send the settlers " one hundred fire arms of which thirty - one are rifles " from Harris ' s Ferry ( modern Harrisburg ) , plus another " seventy rifles [ which ] had been obtained from the Continental store " , as well as allocating 500 pounds of lead ( for bullets ) and 250 pounds of gunpowder to the settlers . They also asked that General George Washington send 250 riflemen from the army to assist the defense of the frontier . However , none of this aid arrived in time to help the settlers . Primitive forts and smaller fortified houses gave the settlers some protection . From west to east , these included Fort Reed ( at modern day Lock Haven ) , Fort Horn ( at the mouth of Pine Creek ) , Antes Fort ( opposite modern Jersey Shore ) , a fortified house near the mouth of Lycoming Creek ( modern Williamsport ) , the fortified Harris house near the mouth of Loyalsock Creek ( modern Montoursville ) , Fort Muncy and the fortified Brady House ( both near modern Muncy ) , and Fort Freeland ( near modern Turbotville ) . As the situation worsened , more settlers moved temporarily to the forts and fortified houses . They were still vulnerable when they had to return to their homes and farms to tend to their crops and livestock . June 10 , 1778 has been called the " bloodiest day " in the history of Lycoming County , with three separate attacks on parties of settlers . Two of these attacks were along Loyalsock Creek and the third was near Lycoming Creek . In the first incident a party of twelve , including a friendly Native American and a black man , set out from the fortified Wallis house near modern Muncy to look for stolen horses . Robert Covenhoven , a guide and former soldier , was sent as a messenger to order the party ' s return . When the party ' s commander , Captain Berry , refused to turn back , Covenhoven joined the party as a guide and scout . No horses were found , and returning via the same route they had taken earlier ( against the advice of Covenhoven ) the party was ambushed . Some were killed immediately , six were captured ( including the black man , who was burned at the stake ) , and Covenhoven and a few others escaped . Meanwhile a second party of three men had set out the same day from the Wallis house to retrieve cattle from the Thomson farm . They were ambushed there by a group of Native Americans and at least one Tory , with two settlers killed and the third wounded and taken prisoner . Yet another party was bringing supplies to the westernmost forts , heard the shots of this attack , but were too late to help . Later that same day , a party of sixteen settlers on its way to Lycoming Creek were attacked in what is now Williamsport . In what became known as the " Plum Tree Massacre " , twelve of the sixteen were killed and scalped , including two women and six children . Two girls were taken prisoner , and a boy and a girl escaped and made it to settlements on Lycoming Creek . They were so frightened by the attack that they were unable to communicate clearly where it occurred . Later search parties found all the victims of the three attacks . It was thought that all the attacks were the work of one group of Native Americans and Tories that had come south along Lycoming Creek on the Sheshequin Path . Mass evacuation . All of these attacks and the lack of military help from the Pennsylvania government disheartened the settlers along the West Branch of the Susquehanna . In the early summer of 1778 news came of a group of Native American warriors , perhaps accompanied by Loyalist and British soldiers , heading for the West Branch Susquehanna River valley to destroy all the settlements there . This news was provided by a friendly Native American named Job Chiiloway at Fort Reed ( modern Lock Haven ) , who was then murdered as he slept by a drunk settler engaged in target shooting . The Wyoming Valley battle and massacre occurred on July 3 , 1778 ( near what is now Wilkes - Barre ) . A mass attack there first overwhelmed small settler forts , followed by a massacre of many of the women and children who had taken refuge there . This news caused the local authorities to order the evacuation of the whole West Branch valley . At least two riders braved attacks to warn their fellow settlers . Rachel Silverthorn volunteered ( when no man would ) to leave the relative safety of Fort Muncy ( in Muncy Township ) . She rode along Muncy Creek and the Wyalusing Path and warned settlers , who fled to the safety of Fort Muncy . Her own family ' s cabin was later burnt to the ground . Robert Covenhoven , who had served under George Washington in the Continental Army and survived the attacks of June 10 , rode west along the ridge of Bald Eagle Mountain to warn settlers at Fort Antes ( opposite what is now Jersey Shore ) and the western part of the valley . Covenhoven is listed as a Fair Play Man and one of the signers of the Tiadaghton Declaration of Independence . Most settlers had already gathered at the small forts and fortified houses for safety , but now the forts and the settlers ' homes and fields were abandoned , with livestock driven along and a few possessions floated on rafts on the river east to what is now Muncy , then further south to Fort Augusta at what is now Sunbury . Women and children rode on the rafts , while the men walked on the river bank to protect them and to drive along the livestock they had been able to save . Their abandoned property was burnt by the attackers . Some settlers reported fleeing at night with the glow of their burning settlements lighting the sky behind them . Fort Horn and the other Fair Play Men settlements were all destroyed . In the New Purchase , only Fort Antes ( made of hard - to - burn peeled oak logs ) and the stone Wallis House survived the flames . The property losses were estimated at £40 , 000 , and there were deaths among the settlers . Colonel Samuel Hunter , the commander of Fort Augusta , was roundly criticized for ordering the evacuation . Many at the time felt that military assistance would have allowed the settlers to withstand the attackers . Aftermath . Some settlers soon returned , a few while the ruins of their homes still smoldered . Many of those who fled were recent immigrants from New Jersey , fleeing the war there . Many of those had been poorly equipped and were ill - equipped to withstand attacks , and simply returned to New Jersey . The government of Pennsylvania sent military aid . Colonel Thomas Hartley built Fort Muncy to protect returning settlers . On September 24 , 1778 he led a force of about 200 men up the Sheshequin Path on Lycoming Creek to the North Branch of the Susquehanna to strike back against the Iroquois . Hartley ' s expedition covered about 300 miles ( 500 km ) in two weeks , defeated several bands of Iroquois and destroyed a few native villages . This proved the feasibility of operating in the Iroquois territory and preceded the Continental Army ' s major expedition into Iroquois territory the next year . In the summer of 1779 , General John Sullivan led an expedition that went up the North Branch of the Susquehanna and destroyed at least forty Native American villages in New York and Pennsylvania in a scorched earth campaign . The Native Americans were aware of Sullivan ' s plans and launched their own attack on the West Branch of the Susquehanna , hoping to draw off Sullivan or even attack him from behind . Their attacking force was discovered as it descended the Sheshequin Path along Lycoming Creek by Robert Covenhoven , sent as a scout again . The authorities ordered a second evacuation , so that those settlers who had returned did so only to flee a second time in the summer of 1779 , in what became known as the " Little Runaway " . The second force was about 200 Native Americans and 100 British and Tory soldiers and attacked the valley again . While the evacuation was less panicked this time , Fort Freeland ( near modern Turbotville and Watsontown ) did not evacuate . It is unclear if they failed to receive the order to evacuate or ignored it , but over half of the settlers who had fled there were killed , with most of the rest taken prisoner . In any case , Sullivan ' s expedition and the harsh winter that followed it helped reduce attacks , stabilized the area , and encouraged resettlement . The Little Runaway and Sullivan ' s Expedition also led to an increased commitment by the government to the security of the frontier .