Note 29 — Western Indians

There were three paths leading eastward from Wyoming; the southern, called the "warriors' path," by way of Fort Allen and along the Lehigh to the Delaware Water Gap at Easton; the northern, by way of the Lackawana at Capouse Meadows, through Cobb's Gap and the Lackawaxen, to the Delaware and Hudson; the middle one, along which this military road was constructed, led through the Wind Gap to Easton. The massacre of Wyoming in 1778 had filled the forests along this central trail with hundreds of helpless fugitives; some estimate the number about two thousand, mostly women and children; many sunk under the tomahawk, others died of excitement, fatigue, hunger and exposure; many were lost and perished in the woods, while hundreds were never seen or heard of after their precipitate flight. At this time small parties of Indians still hovered around Wyoming. They watched the passes, and occasionally exhibited extraordinary instances of courage and audacity. Major Powell, with two hundred men of a regiment that had suffered severely at the battle of Germantown, having been ordered to Wyoming, arrived at Bear Creek about ten miles from that point, on the 19th of April. Deeming themselves out of danger from a surprise by the Indians, officers and men arrayed themselves in their best apparel, burnished their arms and put everything in shape for a respectable appearance on entering the Valley. According to the fashion of the day the officers donned their ruffles, powdered their hair, and with enlivening strains of music, advanced toward their destination. The advance guard reported having seen some deer, and Captain Davis, Lieutenant Jones and others, started in pursuit; near the summit of the second mountain by the Laurel Run, and about four miles from the fort, a fire was opened upon them by the Indians in ambush. Davis, Jones, Corporal Butler and three soldiers were killed and scalped. Chaplain Rogers says: "Scalped, tomahawked and speared by the savages, fifteen or twenty in number; two boards are fixed at the spot where Davis and Jones fell, with their names on each. Jones's being besmeared with his own blood. In passing this melancholy vale, an unusual gloom appeared on the countenances of both officers and men without distinction, and from the eyes of many, as by a sudden impulse, drops the sympathizing tear. Colonel Proctor, out of respect to the deceased, ordered the music to play the tune of Roslin Castle, the soft and moving notes of which, together with what so forcibly struck the eye, tended greatly to fill our breasts with pity, and to renew our grief for our worthy departed friends and brethren." The bodies of the two officers were exhumed a few weeks after this and re-interred at Wilkesbarre, with military and masonic honors by the officers of Sullivan's army.