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Pisquetomen (died 1762)Colin Gordon Calloway, ''The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation,'' Oxford University Press, 2018
was a
Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...
chief who acted as interpreter and negotiator for the Lenape in dealings with the Provincial government of Pennsylvania during the mid-eighteenth century. After being rejected in his bid to succeed his uncle
Sassoonan Sassoonan or Allumapees ( 1675 – 15 October 1747) was a Lenape chief who lived in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania in the late 17th and early 18th century. He was known for his negotiations with the provincial government of Pennsylvani ...
as Lenape chief, Pisquetomen joined
Shingas Shingas (fl. 1740 – 1763) was a Lenape chief and warrior who participated in military activities in Ohio Country during the French and Indian War. Allied with the French, Shingas led numerous raids on Anglo-American settlements during the war, fo ...
and
Captain Jacobs Tewea, better known by his English name Captain Jacobs, (d. September 8, 1756) was a Lenape chief during the French and Indian War. Jacobs received his English name from a Pennsylvanian settler named Arthur Buchanan, who thought the chief resemble ...
in a series of deadly attacks on Pennsylvania settlements at the beginning of the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
. He eventually participated in peace negotiations that led to the
Treaty of Easton The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) between British colonials and the chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, ...
in 1758, and is believed to have died in 1762.


Birth and early life

Pisquetomen, his older brother Nenatcheehunt,Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the First Nations: The Treaties of 1736-62. Ukraine: University of Illinois Press, 2006.
/ref> and his two younger brothers Tamaqua (known to the colonists as " King Beaver") and
Shingas Shingas (fl. 1740 – 1763) was a Lenape chief and warrior who participated in military activities in Ohio Country during the French and Indian War. Allied with the French, Shingas led numerous raids on Anglo-American settlements during the war, fo ...
("Wet Marshy Ground") were probably born in the Tulpehocken Creek Valley, in Berks and Lebanon counties, Pennsylvania. One source reports that Pisquetoman had six brothers (Tamaqua, Nenatcheehunt, Shingas, Buffalo Horn, Munhuttakiswilluxissohpon, and Miuskillamize).Timothy Alden, "An Account of the Captivity of Hugh Gibson among the Delaware Indians of the Big Beaver and the Muskingum, from the latter part of July 1756, to the beginning of April, 1759," ''Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society,'' 1837
/ref> He and his brothers were probably the sons of a sister of
Sassoonan Sassoonan or Allumapees ( 1675 – 15 October 1747) was a Lenape chief who lived in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania in the late 17th and early 18th century. He was known for his negotiations with the provincial government of Pennsylvani ...
, and grandsons of
Tamanend Tamanend ("the Affable"; ), historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the founding peace treaty w ...
.Charles Augustus Hanna, ''The Wilderness Trail: Or, The Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path,'' Volume 1, Putnam's sons, 1911
/ref> "Pisquetomen" means "he who keeps on, though it is getting dark."Grimes, Richard S. ''The Western Delaware Indian Nation, 1730–1795: Warriors and Diplomats.'' Lehigh University Press, 2017.
/ref> The Lenape living in that area were forced out in 1722 when Governor William Keith invited a group of German immigrants to move from the
Schoharie Valley The Schoharie Valley is a corridor that runs through Schoharie County from Schoharie, New York to Gilboa, New York. Geography The Schoharie Valley is made up of plains surrounding the Schoharie Creek. Within the Schoharie Valley are the towns o ...
in New York to Tulpehocken. The Lenape already living there had objected that they had not given up the rights to that area and wanted payment.John, J. J.., Bell, Herbert Charles. ''History of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.'' Brown, Runk & Company, 1891.
/ref> Pisquetomen and Sassoonan negotiated payment, and then relocated to Shamokin.


Encounter with James Logan, 1731

In 1731, the Lenape chief
Sassoonan Sassoonan or Allumapees ( 1675 – 15 October 1747) was a Lenape chief who lived in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania in the late 17th and early 18th century. He was known for his negotiations with the provincial government of Pennsylvani ...
visited Philadelphia accompanied by his nephew Pisquetomen, to meet with James Logan, an influential statesman who was then secretary for the
Pennsylvania Provincial Council The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776. The provincial council was based on the English parliamentary system and was analogous to the Upper House or House of Lords. From the Frame of Govern ...
. Logan immediately disliked him, referring to him as "an ill fellow, assoonans next Relation." When he found out that Pisquetomen was Sassoonan's chosen successor, Logan objected, writing to Thomas Penn: "I concerted measures with Sassoonan, when returned to my house, to have that fellow laid aside and a better substituted in his place, which, 'tis hoped, may take effect." Pisquetomen spoke English well enough that by 1733 he served regularly as an interpreter at conferences in Philadelphia. Even though Logan mistrusted him, he had to admit that he was competent, writing: "They have no Interpreter but Pesqueetoman whom we too well know; yet he seems well enough inclined to interpret faithfully, the contrary of which is a very great crime with them."


Role in the Walking Purchase, 1737

Pisquetomen served as the official interpreter for Chief Nutimus in the
Walking Purchase The Walking Purchase, also known as the Walking Treaty, was a 1737 agreement between the family of William Penn, the original proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the Lenape native Indians. In the purchase, the Penn family and proprieto ...
negotiated between the Lenape and the Pennsylvania government in 1737. William Penn's sons John and Thomas Penn had uncovered a deed from 1686 supposedly proving that the Lenape had promised to sell a tract of land beginning at the junction of the upper
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
and the tributary
Lehigh River The Lehigh River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward ...
(near modern
Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...
) and extending as far west as a man could walk in a day and a half. This document may have been an unsigned treaty or even a forgery, however the Lenape were persuaded to accept it, assuming that a man could only walk about 40 miles in a day. The colonists manipulated the "walk," however, hiring three runners who covered 70 miles, then claiming 1,200,932 acres, which covered all the Lenape's traditional homelands along the Delaware River. The Lenape protested but were eventually forced to relocate to Shamokin. Pisquetomen was seen as a likely successor to Chief Sassoonan, however the colonists were wary of his political influence and knew that he was embittered by the Walking Purchase.


Rejection of Pisquetomen's nomination

In 1741, James Logan and the Iroquois vice-regent
Shikellamy Shikellamy (1680 - December 6, 1748), also spelled Shickellamy and also known as Swatana, was an Oneida chief and overseer for the Iroquois confederacy. In his position as chief and overseer, Shikellamy served as a supervisor for the Six Nations ...
rejected the selection of Pisquetomen by Sassoonan to be his future replacement as the principal man of the Lenape.Grimes, Richard S., "The emergence and decline of the Delaware Indian nation in western Pennsylvania and the Ohio country, 1730--1795," Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports, 2005. 4150
/ref> Pisquetomen moved to Kittanning—a town slowly becoming the center for Unami-speakers of the Turtle and Turkey
phratries In ancient Greece, a phratry (, derived from ) was a group containing citizens in some city-states. Their existence is known in most Ionian cities and in Athens and it is thought that they existed elsewhere as well. Almost nothing is known about th ...
. The Lenape regarded Pisquetomen as "high in authority among the Delawares in the West," and Sassoonan believed him a perfect choice to be "the person who is to have the chief command and to be the mouth of his enapepeople."Francis P. Jennings, "The Delaware Interregnum," ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,'' vol. 89, no 2, April 1965; pp. 174-98
/ref> Pisquetomen was also a Lenape leader who could unify the Lenape, both east and west. His experiences represented what the Lenape were facing in Pennsylvania. He had known displacement, when his people were forced from the Tulpehocken Valley in 1732, and then a sense of freedom and independence when he moved his followers west into Kittanning. But Logan saw Pisquetomen as an obstructionist to Pennsylvania’s political agenda, which favored Iroquois power on the frontier.Weslager, Clinton Alfred. ''The Delaware Indians: A History.'' Rutgers University Press, 1989.
/ref> Pisquetomen was not a pliable figurehead who would help the Six Nations control the Lenape. Most importantly, both Pennsylvania and the Six Nations saw Pisquetomen as a dynamic leader consistent with the obstinate and independent nature of the western Lenape, who could influence the eastern Lenape to adopt a stance of defiance. Logan, who wanted a leader with the influence and determination to recall all Ohio Lenape back to the Susquehanna region, quickly saw that Pisquetomen, like Sassoonan, lacked the will to bring the western Lenape home. Pisquetomen’s rejection did not sit well with many western Lenape. They refused to accept a puppet chief assigned by the Iroquois and the provincial government in Philadelphia. Logan, Shikellamy, and Indian agent
Conrad Weiser Conrad Weiser (November 2, 1696 – July 13, 1760), born Johann Conrad Weiser, Jr., was a Pennsylvania German pioneer who served as an interpreter and diplomat between the Pennsylvania Colony and Native American nations. Primarily a farmer, ...
worked hard to block Pisquetomen’s appointment. Within a month of Sassoonan’s death in September 1747, Weiser considered Lappapitton "to be the fittest" as successor to Sassoonan. Lappapitton, out of respect for Pisquetomen, declined the offer.Sipe, Chester Hale. ''The Indian chiefs of Pennsylvania, or, A story of the part played by the American Indian in the history of Pennsylvania: based primarily on the Pennsylvania archives and colonial records, and built around the outstanding chiefs.'' Butler, PA: Zeigler Press, 1880.
/ref>


Interregnum 1747-1752

Following the rejection of Pisquetomen, an
interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...
existed among the western Lenape. They would not give in to the demands of the colonial authorities, but they also knew that until the crisis was resolved, the western Lenape were in a state of diplomatic limbo, and that they had no voice or influence with the Pennsylvania government. Patience wore thin within the alliance. Governor James Hamilton was eager to settle the matter and hoped they would choose a new leader acceptable to all parties: "You must inform the said Chiefs that...their Brethren in Philadelphia...advise them to recommend such persons to us...with whom publick business shall be transacted, and that their Brethren in Philadelphia will look upon them so recommended as Chief or Chiefs of the Delawares." At the Logstown Treaty talks on May 28, 1751, George Croghan, speaking on behalf of the Six Nations and Governor Hamilton, asked the Lenape to "choose amongst Yourselves one of your wisest Counsellors and present to your Brethren the Six Nations and me amiltonfor a Chief, and he so chosen by you shall be looked upon by us as your King." Remembering the Pisquetomen debacle, the Lenape were hesitant. Tamaqua was aware of the importance of a leader who would represent all Lenape, east and west, and would negotiate their concerns with the Six Nations and Pennsylvania. He reminded
Andrew Montour Andrew Montour ( – 1772), also known as Sattelihu, Eghnisara,Hagedorn, 57 and Henry,Montour was also called Henry, possibly due to the similarity of sound with the French ''"Andre".'' was an important mixed interpreter and negotiator in th ...
that "it would take some time to consider on a Man that was fit to undertake to rule a Nation of People" such as the Lenape, "but that as soon as possible they would make a selection." He also wanted a leader who was not opposed by the Pennsylvania-Six Nations alliance. The interregnum continued into the spring of 1752. The second treaty talks held at Logstown ended the crisis. In May, 1752, Virginia commissioners met with Lenape at Shannopin's Town on the east bank of the Allegheny River (two miles from current-day Pittsburgh). They noted that the Lenape had no king, but were represented by Shingas and his brother Tamaqua, both of whom, supplied with coats and hats by the commissioners, "were dressed after the English fashion." Both wore "silver Breast Plates and ada great deal of Wampum about them." They made favorable impressions with the commissioners, who informed the Lenape that they were to meet the Six Nations at Logstown to improve relationships between the King’s representatives and the Ohio Indians."The Treaty of Logg's Town, 1752." ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography,'' vol. 13, 1906; Pp 154–174.
/ref>


The Logstown Treaty conference, 1752

At the Logstown Treaty talks in June and July 1752, the Ohio Land Company of Virginia and Virginia commissioners sought to gain confirmation of the 1744 Lancaster Treaty in which the Six Nations supposedly gave up territory to Virginia that bordered the Ohio River on the southeast.Lois Mulkearn, ed., ''George Mercer Papers relating to the Ohio Company of Virginia.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1954
/ref> The Six Nations refused to attend, sending instead their "half-kings" (Ohio Senecas or Mingos) to supervise the affairs of the Ohio tribes and to protect Iroquois interests.
Tanacharison Tanacharison (; c. 1700 – 4 October 1754), also called Tanaghrisson (), was a Native American leader who played a pivotal role in the beginning of the French and Indian War. He was known to European-Americans as the "Half-King", a title a ...
, the Seneca supervisor of the Lenape, sensed that the Virginia commissioners were recognizing the prominence and autonomy of the Ohio tribes, so he made a point of asserting the rights of the Iroquois to administer the affairs of the Ohio Indians. Tanacharison scolded both the Lenape and Shawnees for their war excursions into Cherokee country after they had made peace with them: “I take the Hatchet from you; you belong to me, & I think you are to be ruled by me, & I joining with your Brethren of Virginia, order you to go to war no more." The Iroquois "took it very ill" that the Virginia officials negotiated with other Indian nations "without first consulting them." They instructed Tanacharison to end the interregnum and select a leader acceptable to all parties. At Logstown, Tanacharison presented Shingas as his choice, arguing "that is our right to give you a King" to represent the Lenape in "all publick Business" between the Delawares, the Six Nations, and the British. He announced to the Virginia commissioners, "we have given our Cousins, the Delawars, a King, who lives there, we desire you will look upon him as a Chief of that Nation." Shingas was not present at that time. Tamaqua "stood proxy for his brother and was presented with a lace hat and jacket and suit."


Participation in the French and Indian War

After Shingas was declared leader of the western Lenape, their relations with the Pennsylvania Provincial Council began to deteriorate. Some Lenape natives joined the war against Pennsylvania and the English after Braddock's defeat at the
Battle of the Monongahela The Battle of the Monongahela (also known as the Battle of Braddock's Field and the Battle of the Wilderness) took place on July 9, 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War at Braddock's Field in present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, ...
on 9 July 1755. On October 16, 1755, Lenape war parties from Kittanning led by Shingas, Pisquetomen, and
Captain Jacobs Tewea, better known by his English name Captain Jacobs, (d. September 8, 1756) was a Lenape chief during the French and Indian War. Jacobs received his English name from a Pennsylvanian settler named Arthur Buchanan, who thought the chief resemble ...
moved east into the Susquehanna River region and entered the settlement of Penn’s Creek in current-day Snyder County. Lenape warriors entered the home of Barbara Leininger, smoked and drank with her parents and then announced, "We are Alleghany Indians, and your enemies. You must die." They shot her father, clubbed her brother to death, and took Barbara and her sister captive. Within three days, the Lenape destroyed most of Penn’s Creek, taking prisoners, burning farmhouses, and stealing horses. Two weeks after the Penn's Creek massacre, Pisquetomen may have participated in one or more of the subsequent raids on the Scotch-Irish settlements in what is now Fulton and
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...
counties on the Maryland border (in what became known as the
Great Cove massacre The Great Cove massacre was an attack by Shawnee and Lenape warriors led by Shingas, on the community of Great Cove, Pennsylvania (sometimes referred to as Big Cove, modern day McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania in what was, at the time, Cumberland Cou ...
), and also in an attack on settlers along
Swatara Creek Swatara Creek (nicknamed the Swatty) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in the United S ...
in what is now
Lebanon County Lebanon County ( ; ) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 143,257. Its county seat is the city of Lebanon. It lies 72 miles northwest of Philadelphia, which is the nearest m ...
and Tulpehocken Creek in Berks County.


Adoption of Hugh Gibson, 1756

Hugh Gibson, 14, was captured in July, 1756 by Lenape Indians, outside Robinson's Fort, near present-day Southwest Madison Township, Pennsylvania. His mother and a neighbor were killed by the Indians, and he was brought to Kittanning, where he was adopted as a brother by Pisquetomen (whom Gibson refers to as "Bisquittam" or "Busqueetam""An Account of the Captivity of Hugh Gibson," in Archibald Loudoun, ''A Selection of Some of the Most Interesting Narratives, of Outrages, Committed by the Indians, in Their Wars with the White People,'' A. Loudoun Press, Carlisle, 1811; pp. 181-186
/ref>). Gibson says that Pisquetomen was disabled due to "a wound received by his knife in skinning a deer," and adopted Gibson to assist him. Gibson and Pisquetomen were living in Kittanning when it was attacked by Colonel John Armstrong's forces on 8 September 1756. After the attack, Gibson was taken to " Kuskuskin og-Townon the Mahoning." While there, Gibson one day remarked that "he had heard that the white people were coming against the Indians," which was overheard by Pisquetomen's brother and his wife, who said they would see Gibson burnt alive as soon as Pisquetomen returned from Shenango. Rather than have him killed, Pisquetomen instead took Gibson to live with him in a tent outside Kuskusky, probably to avoid a conflict with Pisquetomen's brother.Blake Anthony Grasso, "Sheep in the Wolf Den: The End of the Struggle for the Upper Ohio in the Seven Years’ War, 1758-1759." Master's thesis, dept. of History, North Carolina State University, 2021
/ref> Gibson wrote in his memoir that at this time, Pisquetomen "took a Dutch captive for his wife." Gibson reports that Pisquetomen spoke and understood English well. In the spring of 1757 Gibson and Pisquetomen moved to Saucunk where they lived for a year. Although Gibson was theoretically Pisquetomen's adoptive brother, he lived much like a slave and was frequently threatened and abused. On one occasion, Gibson refused an offer of marriage to a Lenape woman, and Pisquetomen beat him with a hickory rod. In late 1757, Pisquetomen accused Gibson of planning to escape, and threatened to have him burned alive, until Gibson apologized. On another occasion, Pisquetomen accused Gibson of being lazy and beat him, knocking him to the ground and trampling him underfoot. Gibson shamed Pisquetomen by calling him "brother," and meekly accepting the punishment. Remorseful, Pisquetomen treated Gibson kindly after this. In October 1758, after French and Indian forces were defeated in an attack on the British outpost of Fort Ligonier, Pisquetomen and Gibson moved to Muskingum. In March 1759 Gibson escaped, together with Marie Le Roy and Barbara Leininger and a Scotsman named David Brackenridge, and walked 250 miles to Fort Pitt (then under construction).


Peace negotiations and the Treaty of Easton, 1758

The English realized that the French needed Native American support to continue the war, therefore they initiated a series of negotiations with Lenape leaders in an attempt to make them withdraw from the fighting. Fearing that the ever-advancing European settlers would permanently take control of their lands, Lenape chiefs hoped to bargain for a binding treaty that would grant them protected space. Pennsylvania Deputy Governor William Denny asked
Christian Frederick Post Christian Frederick Post (an anglicanization of Christian Friedrich Post) (1710 Polish Prussia29 April 1785 Germantown, Pennsylvania) was a missionary of the Moravian Church to the indigenous peoples of the Americas who played a brief but signific ...
to act as negotiator at Kuskusky.Michael N. McConnell, "Kuskusky Towns and Early Western Pennsylvania Indian History," ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,'' 116:33-58
/ref> Post was an experienced frontiersman and had two Lenape wives, spoke the language well, and the Lenape trusted him. He was instructed by Deputy Governor Denny to offer
amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...
to all Lenape who had participated in frontier raids against Pennsylvania if they would now support the British. Pisquetomen accompanied Post and
Keekyuscung Keekyuscung (died 6 August 1763) aka Kickyuscung, Kaquehuston, Kikyuskung, Ketiuscund, Kekeuscund, or Ketiushund, was a Delaware (Lenape) chief. In the 1750s he took part in peace negotiations to end Lenape participation in the French and Indian ...
to Philadelphia in July, 1758, to meet with Richard Peters and Deputy Governor Denny.Walter C. Champion, Jr., "Christian Frederick Post and the Winning of the West," ''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,'' Vol. 104, No. 3, July, 1980
/ref> Post then returned with Pisquetomen, and met his brothers
Shingas Shingas (fl. 1740 – 1763) was a Lenape chief and warrior who participated in military activities in Ohio Country during the French and Indian War. Allied with the French, Shingas led numerous raids on Anglo-American settlements during the war, fo ...
and Tamaqua at the Kuskuskies on 12 August 1758. Post assured Tamaqua and the other leaders that the English wanted peace. Post continued down the Ohio to address other Lenape and their Shawnee and Mingo allies. Though well received by the Indians, Post had to be protected from the French by Pisquetomen and his warriors. On October 8, 1758, an Indian congress met with colonial officials at Easton. In attendance were representatives from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York along with
Teedyuscung Teedyuscung (c. 1700–1763) was known as "King of the Delawares". He worked to establish a permanent Lenape (Delaware) home in eastern Pennsylvania in the Lehigh, Susquehanna, and Delaware River valleys. Teedyuscung participated in the Treaty ...
and the eastern Lenape, the Six Nations, Nanticokes,
Mohicans The Mohicans ( or ) are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe that historically spoke an Algonquian language. As part of the Eastern Algonquian family of tribes, they are related to the neighboring Lenape, whose indigenous territory was ...
,
Wappinger The Wappinger ( ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutc ...
s, and a small western Lenape delegation headed by Pisquetomen and his council. In his speech at the conference, Pisquetomen reminded the colonial authorities, "Now you, Gentlemen, who are Head Men, sent Frederick Post with me, desiring me to take and carry him in my Bosom there, and when I came there, to introduce him to the publick council; I did this, and have brought him back safe again." The
Treaty of Easton The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) between British colonials and the chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, ...
effectively ended Lenape involvement in the French and Indian War, and enabled Brigadier General John Forbes to capture
Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...
in November without interference from local Indian tribes. Following the conference, Pisquetomen and Post journeyed to Loyalhanna to request that the Ohio Indians withdraw from
Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...
, as the British were preparing an attack and did not want any potential allies to be inadvertently injured. This time, they passed through several colonial settlements that Pisquetomen had attacked during the early years of the war, and Pisquetomen asked Post to protect him from any possible reprisals, thus reversing their roles as protector and protected. Pisquetomen was also anxious that British colonists would move into Lenape territory, a concern he voiced when he asked two soldiers who accompanied Post, "...whether the General will claim the land as his own, when he should drive the French away," adding, "We are always jealous the English will take the land from us. Look, brother, what makes you come with such a large body of men, and make such large roads into our country; we could drive away the French ourselves, without your coming into our country."Reuben Gold Thwaites, ed. "The journal of Christian Frederick Post, in his journey from Philadelphia to the Ohio, on a message from the government of Pennsylvania to the Delaware, Shawanese and Mingo Indians settled there, and formerly in alliance with the English," in ''Early Western Journals 1748-1765,'' Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark, 1904
/ref> After the French withdrew from Fort Duquesne on 22 November 1758, Pisquetomen told Post that, for a lasting peace, the English "must speedily retire to the other side of the mountains," adding that if they did so, "I will use it for an argument with other nations of Indians." Post made no such promise, however.


Final years and death

Pisquetomen is mentioned several times in the journal of James Kenny, a Quaker frontiersman who was hired by Israel Pemberton Jr. to bring supplies to the Lenape and Shawnee Indians in western Pennsylvania. In April and May, 1759, Kenny stayed at Fort Pitt, where he traded with the elderly Pisquetomen, as well as Shingas and Killbuck. Kenny reports that Pisquetomen "often called himself a Quaker,"James Kenny, "Journal to ye westward: 1758-1759," ''Pennsylvania magazine of history and biography,'' v. 37, n. 4. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1913
/ref> although it does not appear that Pisquetomen ever formally converted to Christianity. Pisquetomen is believed to have died in 1762.


See also

*
Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...
*
Shingas Shingas (fl. 1740 – 1763) was a Lenape chief and warrior who participated in military activities in Ohio Country during the French and Indian War. Allied with the French, Shingas led numerous raids on Anglo-American settlements during the war, fo ...
*
Sassoonan Sassoonan or Allumapees ( 1675 – 15 October 1747) was a Lenape chief who lived in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania in the late 17th and early 18th century. He was known for his negotiations with the provincial government of Pennsylvani ...
*
Christian Frederick Post Christian Frederick Post (an anglicanization of Christian Friedrich Post) (1710 Polish Prussia29 April 1785 Germantown, Pennsylvania) was a missionary of the Moravian Church to the indigenous peoples of the Americas who played a brief but signific ...
* Tamaqua (Lenape chief) *
Treaty of Easton The Treaty of Easton was a colonial agreement in North America signed in October 1758 during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) between British colonials and the chiefs of 13 Native American nations, representing tribes of the Iroquois, ...
*
Walking Purchase The Walking Purchase, also known as the Walking Treaty, was a 1737 agreement between the family of William Penn, the original proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the Lenape native Indians. In the purchase, the Penn family and proprieto ...


References

{{reflist Lenape people History of Pennsylvania Native American leaders 18th-century Native American people Native American people from Pennsylvania Interpreters Native American history of Pennsylvania 18th-century births 1760s deaths