The warriors were getting ready to go out on a hunt, but they waited until
their unexpected visitors had departed. One or two of them had met James
Morris at the trading-post on the Kinotah, and they remembered that he had
treated them well. As a consequence the Indians did what they could to make
the newcomers welcome, although they showed plainly that they would have
been better pleased had the Delawares not been present.
"You must come and trade with me when I have re-established myself," said
James Morris to the warriors of the village. "I will treat you honestly."
They remained in the village but two hours, and then pushed forward
straight for Fort Pitt.
At the time of which I write, Fort Pitt was a structure standing on the
point of land where the Monongahela and the Alleghany rivers unite to form
the broad Ohio. As already told, it had been named Fort Duquesne by the
French, but after the surrender to General Forbes, it was re-named after
William Pitt, a great leader in England. In 1759, much of the old fort was
torn down by General Stanwix, who erected in its place a much larger and
stronger structure, built of logs, bricks, and dirt, and well protected
with a number of cannon.
When the party reached the fort, James Morris was welcomed warmly by the
English officer in command. No white men had passed that way since early
winter, and all in the fort were anxious to hear the latest news, and to
receive the newspapers which the trader had thoughtfully brought along.
"You are very adventurous," said the commandant of the fort. "I do not know
how the Shawanoes will treat you."
"Have you had any trouble?" demanded James Morris.
"Not of any consequence. Some drunken Indians came here a few weeks ago and
did some shooting. But nobody was hurt, and I speedily sent the drunkards
about their business."
All the whites of the party were glad to rest at the fort for several days,
and White Buffalo and his men remained with them. During that time Dave and
Henry met several soldiers who had been with the youths during one campaign
or another.
"Glad to see you came out of the war hale and hearty," said one of the
soldiers. "You are both lucky."
"We were lucky," answered Henry.
"The fall of Montreal has brought the war to a quick close," went on the
soldier. "But that is not saying that the Indians won't give us plenty of
trouble in the future."
"They had better not. They will get the worst of it," said Dave.
"It is some of the great chiefs who are stirring them up, Morris. If the
regular run of redskins were left alone they would be peaceable enough. But
the chiefs go among them and say we are stealing their hunting grounds away
from them, and all that, and that gets them excited."
"Yes, I know. And, to a certain extent, what they say is true, too."
"The trouble is, the redskins won't make a fair deal. They'll sell land one
year and then want it back the next," added another soldier.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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