Oct 17, 2014 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Clayton Kilgore, executive director of Washington County Historical Society, spoke to members of Cornerstone Genealogical Society, explaining the relationship between the early settlers and Native Americans of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

These early settlers, Kilgore said, adopted some of the Indians ways, from clothing to farming; and the Indians adopted some of the settler’s ways, from iron tools to blankets.

Around 1600 the Delaware, Susquehanna and Monongahela Indians were residing in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania and to the north around Erie were the Iroquois. By 1765 settlements were starting to form in eastern Pennsylvania and the Delaware, Mohawk, Seneca and Iroquois were the tribes most dominant in the eastern part of the state.

There was an English treaty at this time that was supposed to keep people from settling west of the Alleghenies. The treaty, Kilgore explained, was established for two reasons: Western Pennsylvania was mostly dominated by the French; and the English did not see how they could govern the people that far away.

By 1753, settlers began pushing west while the Delaware Indians, considered to be very friendly, remained and adopted the ways of the white settlers, including living in cabins.

Meanwhile, Kilgore said the Shawnee, Iroquois and Six Nations pushed west. At the same time, the French began building forts and laying claim to most of the area in Western Pennsylvania but the English wanted it, too.

In 1754, Lt. Col. George Washington was sent here to tell the French they must leave and thus the French and Indian War. Washington was defeated at Fort Necessity; a year later Braddock was defeated at Battle of Monongahela, but in 1758, the Forbes expedition resulted in the defeat of the French and the area was secured as British.

By 1763, settlers were settling the Western Pennsylvania frontier. The Oneida and Seneca Indians were being shifted out but the Delaware Indians still had a large presence in the Amity area. There were some raids by the Shawnee, but for the most part there were few Indians in this area. Kilgore said the Indians lived in a structure called a wicki and because they were on the move periodically, these shelters were easily assembled. Saplings were driven into the ground, bent over, and tied together near the top with sinew, and then other saplings are weaved around the dome horizontally. This dome-shaped framework was then covered with overlapping mats of woven bark or grass, with a hole left in the top for the smoke.

There also were longhouses that were fairly elaborate. Indians would dig down about one foot and then lay wood over the surface and set the wood on fire to make a hard surface like clay. The longhouses were built in the same manner as the wickis by using saplings. The roof was left open down the middle for smoke. These longhouses had sleeping areas along the sides, some had crude shelves and some were used for storage of crops or animals.

Hand-drawn pictures where used for early writings. Wampum was usually shells or pieces of wood made into necklaces, bracelets and belts using elaborate patterns. These items were used for trading and status symbols.

The Genealogical Society’s November banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at Washington Street United Methodist Church. Tickets are $20 and are available in the Cornerstone Genealogical Library.