the laws of 1860, page 802. It was named for Bernard and John Wilmore, the founders. See plan of town laid out by William Hudson, June 4, 1831, in deed book, vol. 7, at page 12; also, vol. 12 at page 698.

Woodvale, taken from Taylor township by a decree of the district court held in Johnstown, dated July 4, 1870; recorded in docket 1, page 68. It consolidated with the city of Johnstown, December 18, 1889, and is now the Eleventh ward. The name was derived from Murray's grove, a picnic ground located there until after the Civil war.

CHAPTER IV.

INDIAN TRIBES IN THE CONEMAUGH VALLEY-FIRST WHITE VISITORS.

Johnstown seems to have been in the path of travel between the East and the West at a very early period, and has held this advantage to the present day. It was the site of an Indian village, occupied principally by the Shawonese and Delaware tribes, both of whom were vigorous and deceitful, and the territory between Bedford and Loyalhanna, including our own vicinity, was the scene of much inhuman conduct by marauding Indians.

The first inhabitants of the vicinity were a tribe of Shawonese Indians, of whom Okewelah was the chief, and some Delaware and Asswikale red men, who continued to reside here until 1755. As to their character and nativity we give such information as is obtainable at this day as to who they were, where they came from, what they did, and when they took their departure.

It will be observed that frequently a name is spelled differently in the same article for instance, "Okowela" and "Okowelah;" but we have quoted as it was written by the men who recorded the interesting history of our town and State, which we reproduce.

The best authorities practically agree that the original grand division of the North American Indians inhabiting what is at present the Southern tier of Pennsylvania counties, from the Ohio to the Delaware, called themselves the Lenni Lenape, or the original people. These were sub-divided into three principal parts the Turtle, the Turkey, and the Wolf Tribes, and these tribes were again sub-divided into numerous classes, among them the Delawares, who were closely associated with the Shawonese; and these two classes far outnumbered all the others.

In addition to the Lenapes there was, until 1712, another grand division called the "Five Nations," consisting of the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Senecas, and the Mohawks. In that year the Tuscaroras were expelled from their native place-North Carolina and Virginia-came North,

and were taken care of and made a part of that grand division, the members of which thereafter called themselves the "Six Nations." The Lenapes, however, called them Mingoes, and the French designated them as the Iroquois Tribe. The Six Nations principally inhabited the northern portion of Pennsylvania and the present territory of New York, especially the region about the lakes, although, as we have noted, many of them lived among the Delawares and the Shawonese.

There were estimated to be forty-two distinct and separate tribes of Indians in the Northern portion of North America, and thirteen in the Southern part. Along the southern line of Pennsylvania, in a direct course between Pittsburg and Philadelphia, most of the Indians were Shawonese and Delawares, although there were representatives of most every other tribe known.

The Colonial Records, the Pennsylvania Archives, and "Day's Historical Collections of Pennsylvania" agree that the Shawonese Tribe were treacherous and ferocious, while there is a difference of opinion as to the Delawares being so classified. Some think they were as brutal and deceptive as any of the others. Anyhow as these two tribes occupied the present site of Johnstown in their day and generation, it is important to know something about them.

The Delawares were natives of Pennsylvania, and, while they were guilty of many acts of cruelty toward the whites, yet it was probably a matter of self-defense, as their property had been taken from them; by purchase, some of it, it may be true. But unprincipled white men entered their reservations and committed all kinds of crimes, which provoked them to acts of violence. By some they were said to be cowards. The best authority to controvert this objectionable view of the Delawares is the contradiction of it by William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the Union and the hero of Tippecanoe. He says: "They (the Delawares) are rarely cowards, but still more rarely are they deficient in sagacity or discernment to detect any attempts to impose upon them. I sincerely wish I could unite with the worthy German (Mr. Heckewelder) in removing this stigma upon the Delawares. A long and intimate. knowledge of them in peace and in war, as enemies and friends, has left upon my mind the most favorable impressions of their character for bravery, generosity, and fidelity to their engagements."

The Shawonese were originally from the South, where the Cherokees mostly inhabited, but, being a ferocious and treacherous band, full of selfishness and self aggrandizement, they were driven out of that country and came to Pennsylvania. Bancroft says they arrived here in 1698, and other good authority makes it twenty years earlier. However, they came, and were taken care of by the Delawares, but they soon caused trouble with their new-made friends, and by them were driven from the eastern part of Pennsylvania to the headwaters of the Susquehanna, of which the west branch has its source in Cambria County.

Sherman Day notes the fact that in 1732, when the number of fighting Indians in Pennsylvania was about seven hundred, one-half of them were Shawonese. Ever restless and quarrelsome themselves, and being encroached upon by the white man, they retired from one hunting ground to another until they joined the French at Pittsburg, in 1755, and finally drifted to the West.

As early as 1742 the French, who then occupied the Ohio Valley, induced a large number of Shawonese to go with them. There is no doubt that the Shawonese Tribe occupied the site of the City of Johnstown in 1731, when Okowelah was their Chief, but it seems as if they were among those who joined the French. In 1758 it is said that Christian Frederick Post, a missionary, passed through the place, and reported it a deserted Indian village, with briars and underbrush growing thereon, but we doubt the correctness of this, as we believe it was another town farther north to which he referred, although the village was probably abandoned at that period.

These red men of the forest were chiefs of tribes belonging to the Shawonese nation. Okowelah was the first chief of that tribe who has a local history connected with the Conemaugh, and while he was here it seems that he favored the French in their combat at arms with the English.

The Shawonese were treacherous to the Delawares, as well as to Provincial authorities, who made repeated treaties with them, to which they almost always proved false. They were usually aiding the French, but, Indian like, they would sometimes deceive them and help the English.

By reason of their unfaithfulness and the violations of their many treaties, the reputation of the Delawares and the Shawonese for fidelity was at a low ebb with other tribes of

Indians, particularly the Six Nations, as well as the white man. This is shown in the story of a conference held in Pittsburg in January, 1759, between the Six Nations, Delawares, and Shawonese. The chiefs were Cannewaungh, Sagowinnie, Awinne Onas, Sonoyeyough, Onistogah, Tecanashategh, Occondeuagh, Acquialinguish, Canigatt, and Snake's Son, interpreter for the Shawonese. Jo Hickman acted as such for the English. Before the conference the chiefs of the Six Nations called on Captain Ward and with apparent frankness informed him that they intended to express their minds and opinions freely, but that they were to be kept private from the Delawares and Shawonese, and proceeded thus:

"Brother, the Delawares and Shawonese are not yet to be depended upon. They may tell whatever they know to the French."

Another one said:

"Brothers, to-morrow I will talk of this before the Delawares and Shawonese; you are not to mind what is said there, for it is outside of my lips, but what is now said be attentive to, for it comes from my heart." Then he gave five strings of wampum.

The character of the Delawares and Shawonese is thus described by Colonel Henry Boquet, at a conference with the Oneidas, Onondagas, and other Indians at Fort Pitt, October 3, 1764:

"Brothers, the Delawares, Wyandots, and Shawonese are a false people, and they deceive you as they have always done; if they are sincere why don't their Chiefs come to speak to me. They have, in time of peace, killed our traders in their towns; they stole all their goods, they have attacked this fort, and when I came up last year they attacked me in the woods and killed some of our people."

It has been generally understood that the earliest authentic information we have had of the white man being here, was the trip of Conrad Weiser, an Indian interpreter, in 1748. This is erroneous, as Jonah Davenport and James LeTort, both Indian traders, were here in 1731, and to get a fair knowledge of the situation as it appeared to them, and as they stated it to the provincial authorities at the time, we give the statement of Davenport, as he made it; and for the same purpose the reports, opinions, and facts as set forth by others at the time are given in full, which afford conclusive evidence that Johnstown

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