Kittanning (Indian village)
Kittanning was a main village of the Lenni Lenape Indians on the Allegheny River and was located near what is now Kittanning , Pennsylvania, of the same name . The village was at the western end of the Kittanning Trail, an Indian trail that ran from the Ohio River through the Allegheny Mountains to the Susquehanna River , and was inhabited by Lenape and Shawnee people. The word comes from the Unami-Lenape language and means on the great river . In 1756 the village was one of the largest Indian settlements west of the mountains with around 300–400 inhabitants. Kittanning was settled in 1724 when the Lenape withdrew from the rapidly expanding white population of eastern Pennsylvania. Kittanning became famous during the French and Indian War , when the village was the starting point of a series of raids by the Lenape and Shawnee under their leaders Shingas and Captain Jacobs on colonists in Pennsylvania. The colonial governments of Pennsylvania and Virginia then offered bonuses to Indian scalps and prisoners. The Pennsylvania militia under Lt. Col. John Armstrong counterattacked the village on September 8, 1756.
The destruction of Kittanning was hailed as a great victory in Pennsylvania, and John Armstrong is honored as the hero of Kittanning to this day . He and his men received the special scalp bonus that had been placed on the head of Captain Jacobs. However, it was a victory with reservations: the attackers suffered far more casualties than their opponents and most of the Indians escaped, and with them almost all of their white prisoners. The destruction of Kittanning intensified the war on the border and the Indian raids intensified.
literature
- McConnell, Michael N. A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724-1774 . Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8032-3142-3 .
Coordinates: 40 ° 49 ′ N , 79 ° 31 ′ W