Source: History of Pennsylvania by William H. Egle, M.D., M.A. Published
1883

Author: WYOMING COUNTY BY CHARLES M. LEE, TUNKHANNOCK

WYOMING! At that name, wherever the English tongue is spoken, wherever the
traditions of our nation's first struggles for life are read, wherever in the
round world the tales of American patriotism and endurance are told, a thrill
electric threads the nerves, and makes the heart of man beat faster in its
sympathy with true bravery, true nobility. This name is most appropriately
given to this county, as being the northern opening of the wonderful and
beautiful Wyoming valley, the home of heroism, the fount of history and
song. True, within the immediate limits of this county, the records remain
of no hard-fought battles, no bloody massacres, no life-long captivities,
to transmit her name down to posterity as one rendered immortal by the
bloody deeds committed within her border; yet while the work of devastation
was going on in other counties, and even before it had commenced, it was
the scene of quarrels and Indian plottings, that culminated, at length,
in the great massacre of Wyoming.

While the Indians were making preparations for the decisive move on the
valley below, it was evident that Wyoming county was destined to be the
scene of much bloodshed. Her bright sun of peace and happiness was about
to set. "On the 5th of June, 1778, there was an alarm from the Indians and
six white men, Tories, coming in the neighborhood of Tunkhannock and taking
Wilcox, Pierce, and some others prisoners, and robbing and plundering the
inhabitants." The foregoing is from the journal of Lieutenant Jenkins, and
he tells us that as soon as this reached the ears of those in the valley
below they began to fortify, so this seems to have been one of the first
indications of the approaching danger. On the 12th of June, 1778, William
Crooks and Asa Budd came up the river in a canoe to a place some two miles
above Tunkhannock, formerly occupied by a Tory named John Secord, which
was near where Uriah Swetland now lives. Crooks was fired upon and killed
by a party of Indians. He was the first white man killed in Westmoreland,
so we see the first blood was shed in Wyoming county. On the 17th of June
of the same year, a party of six men, in two canoes, came up the river to
observe the movements of the enemy. The party in the forward canoe landed
about six miles below Tunkhannock (La Grange), and on ascending the bank
they saw an armed force of Indians and Tories moving toward them. They
gave the alarm, returned to their canoes, and endeavored to get behind an
island to escape the fire, which was being poured in upon them. The canoe,
in which were Miner Robbins, Joel Phelps, and Stephen Jenkins, was fired
upon, and Robbins killed and Phelps wounded. Jenkins escaped unhurt. In the
party that fired upon the canoe was Elijah Phelps, a Tory, the brother of
Joel and brother-in-law of Robbins.

Thus the work of death commenced, and on the 30th of June, the enemy,
numbering about two hundred British Provincials, and about two hundred
Tories from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, under the command of
Major John Butler and Captain Caldwell, of Sir john Johnson's Royal Greens,
and about five hundred Indians, commanded by Joseph Brant, a Mohawk,
descended the river in a boat, and landed on the south bank of Bowman's
creek, where they remained some time waiting for the West Branch party to
join them. This party consisted of about two hundred Indians, under the
command of Gucingerachton. After the juncture of these forces, numbering
altogether about eleven hundred, they moved forward to the invasion of
Wyoming. They left the largest of their boats, and with the lighter ones
passed on down the river to the Three Islands, now known as Keeler's. from
this point they marched to the valley. The bloody scene had now commenced,
and these fiends of hell were let loose upon the inhabitants of the country,
dealing death to whomever they met.