habitants the place of
his residence, and the length of time he had been living there, he was
charged with being in confederacy with the Indians, and probably at
that instant a spy, examining the condition of the fort. In vain the
Doctor protested his innocence and the fact that he had not even seen
an Indian in the country; the suffering condition [59] of the border
settlements, rendered his account, in their opinion improbable, and he
was put in confinement.

The society, of which Doctor Eckarly was a member, was rather
obnoxious to a number of the frontier inhabitants. Their intimacy with
the Indians, although cultivated with the most laudable motives, and
for noble purposes, yet made them objects at least of distrust to
many. Laboring under these disadvantages, it was with difficulty that
Doctor Eckarly prevailed on the officer of the fort to release him;
and when this was done he was only permitted to go home under certain
conditions--he was to be escorted by a guard of armed men, who were to
carry him back if any discovery were made prejudicial to him. Upon
their arrival at Cheat, the truth of his statement was awfully
confirmed. The first spectacle which presented itself to their view,
when the party came within sight of where the cabin had been, was a
heap of ashes. On approaching the ruins, the half decayed, and
mutilated bodies of the poor Dunkards, were seen in the yard; the
hoops, on which their scalps had been dried, were there, and the
ruthless hand of desolation had waved over their little fields. Doctor
Eckarly aided in burying the remains of his unfortunate brothers, and
returned to the fort on the South Branch.

In the fall of 1758, Thomas Decker and some others commenced a
settlement on the Monongahela river, at the mouth of what is now,
Decker's creek. In the ensuing spring it was entirely broken up by a
party of Delawares and Mingoes; and the greater part of its
inhabitants murdered.

There was at this time at Brownsville a fort, then known as
Redstone fort, under the command of Capt. Paul.[17] One of Decker's
party escaped from the Indians who destroyed the settlement, and
making his way to Fort Redstone, gave to its commander the melancholy
intelligence. The garrison being too weak to admit of sending a
detachment in pursuit, Capt. Paul despatched a runner with the
information to Capt. John Gibson, then stationed at Fort Pitt.
Leaving the fort under the command of Lieut. Williamson, Capt. Gibs