NOTE: Once Upon A Time In ...” is a Monday feature provided by the historical societies in Montour, Northumberland, Union and Snyder counties. The column will focus on people, places and objects of historical significance in those counties.
British-ruled Pennsylvania had little trouble with the natives or any foreigners for the first 64 years after William Penn received his charter. Even as the French brought troops into the Allegheny Valley in 1753, most felt the province remained secure.
But as the French and their American Indian allies penetrated further into the Susquehanna Valley, the need for protection became paramount. The British eventually responded and built Fort Augusta.
Despite concerns about French aggression and Braddock’s defeat near Fort Duquesne, authorities were slow to react to the increasing threat. What finally got everyone’s attention was the massacre at Penns Creek near present Selinsgrove in October 1755. The Penns Creek massacre was the first American Indian outrage on the British border, and what is now Sunbury was that border. It brought fear and consternation to the entire frontier. As the Indians burned, killed and tortured, many of the British colonists fled.
The French attacked the Penns Creek settlers because they were the outermost fringe of British settlers in this area. With these settlers removed, the French could cross the Susquehanna and enter the eastern portion of Pennsylvania. To secure their hold on these newly conquered lands, the French knew they would need an impregnable base east of Fort Duquesne from which to work to continue conquering more territory.
The site they eyed to the east was at the confluence of the Susquehanna River. A fort here would command all the traffic down or up both the west and north branches of the river. But the French were not the first to come up with this idea.
The friendly American Indians who lived near the confluence repeatedly begged the British to erect “a strong house” there. The fear that erupted after the Penn’s Creek massacre finally brought action from the Pennsylvania legislature. Colonel Clapham marched north from Fort Hunter with the Augusta regiment to erect the fortification. As construction continued, the French moved east and a spy party made its way to the top of Blue Hill, where they could see the river valley below.
Much to their surprise, they saw Fort Augusta, nearly complete, and secure against any attack. Heavy guns would be needed to batter down its sturdy walls. Though the French continued to send American Indian raiding parties to harass central Pennsylvania, they never sent troops this far east again.
As Paul A. Wallace points out in his “Indians in Pennsylvania,” the building of Fort Augusta “… served two important purposes. It gave protection to the down-river settlements, and it gave the Six Nations and other Indian friends of the English a restored confidence in Pennsylvania. The Indian world saw that the province was capable of defending itself.”
Eventually, the British captured Fort Duquesne, eliminated the French strong points and ended French rule in North America. If France had succeeded in taking over Fort Augusta and became securely established at the forks of the Susquehanna, history would have been different.
The Northumberland County Historical Society’s next meeting will be Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Hunter House at the site of Fort Augusta, 1150 N. Front St., Sunbury. Mike McWilliams and Bob Keintz will present a program on local canal history and preservation efforts. The program is free and open to the public.
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A massacre prompted the building of Fort Augusta
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