lways been performed. Why, therefore, should
they now plight their faith to any other than their Great
Father the King, who dwelt far over the waters? Besides,
by recent actions of the colonists, the resentment of
the Indians had been fanned to a fury. In 1774 some
colonial land-hunters were scouring the country of the
Shawnees. Without any real cause they fell upon some
redskins and butchered several in an inhuman way. Not
satisfied with this act of cruelty, they seized two brave
chiefs, Bald Eagle and Silver Heels, and killed them in
cold blood. The anger of the Indians was aroused and they
rallied under the banner of the noble Logan, 'Mingo Chief'
of the Shawnees. Against him the Virginians sent a large
force of more than two thousand men. A fierce battle took
place at the Great Kanawha river, at the point where that
stream flows into the Ohio. For a time Logan and his
Indian ally Cornstalk and their followers fought
desperately, but in the end they were forced to flee
across the Ohio. This war was short, indeed, but it had
no just warrant, and the Indians could not forget the
outrage that had been committed. The memory of it rankled
with the Six Nations, especially among the Cayugas, to
whom Logan was bound by ties of blood.

While Joseph was doing his utmost to keep the Indians
loyal and was keeping watch upon those who were plotting
to win them from their allegiance to the crown, Sir John
Johnson was growing anxious for his own life. So great
was his, fear of being killed or abducted that he increased
his body-guard to five hundred men. At the same time,
he placed swivel-guns about his house, in order to
withstand a sudden attack. He energetically organized
the settlers on his domains into a protecting force. In
particular the Highland loyalists in his district rallied
to his aid, and soon a hundred and fifty brawny clansmen
were ready to take the field at the shortest notice.

But the Six Nations were by no means united in their
loyalty to the crown. Brant saw that the tribe most
wavering in its support was the Oneidas. He found that
their missionary, Samuel Kirkland, was in league with
the rebels, and sought to have this clergyman removed.
Failing in this, he wrote to the Oneida chiefs, urging
them to remain loyal to the king. A letter that an Oneida
runner let fall at this time on an Indian path is the
earliest bit of handwriting that we have from Joseph
Brant's pen. In it he warns the Oneidas against