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.On April 1, 1756, 26 people were killedor captured by the Indians with French support at Fort McCord.TheMcCord women were recaptured in a daring raid at Kittanning in September1756 by militia under Colonel John Armstrong.Four McCord children were captured by Indians in 1758 at Derry (nowHershey) Pennsylvania.James McCord was taken to Detroit, then Montrealand England and was exchanged for French prisoners.In 1763 another FortMcCord in Perry County was attacked by Indians during Pontiac s Uprisingwhen McCord and family members were killed.The McCord children wereamong the 240 women and children freed after 1763.During the uprising,1,500 very frightened settler families abandoned their homes and more than2,000 were killed or captured.The frontiersmen, rightly, were especially concerned about the sale of guns,ammunition, and knives to the Indians.One of the most salable items was the Indian gun, a small-caliber, smooth-bore fowling piece, or fusil, that waslight-weight and easy to carry, compared with the heavy military musket.Thefusil had enough power to wound a deer and also could be used in warfare.In January 1765 the British were faced with a dilemma.The settlersobjected to providing arms to the Indians, who only months ago had beenkilling families on the frontier.On the other hand, the Indians needed theweapons for hunting.If the British and colonial merchants did not supplythe Indians with guns, knives, and ammunition, the tribes would turn to theFrench from Illinois, who would instigate even more trouble to maintaintheir Indian alliances and promote hostility toward the British.At Fort Pittin February 1765 Croghan conferred with the Shawnees concerning resuming Settlers 87"trade.The Shawnees promised to release white captives in return.Croghanplanned to distribute a large amount of goods as presents but deferred untilthe Indians had complied with the terms of the agreement.Croghan had£1,200 sterling s worth of presents and £2,000 in cash to purchase more, atotal of £3,200 sterling ($640,000).In June 1765 General Thomas Gage urged Lieutenant Governor JohnPenn to open the Indian trade officially, despite the objections of the fearfulsettlers on the frontier.The Indians had met all terms of the agreementsnegotiated by Croghan in February.If goods were unavailable at Fort Pitt,Gage said the Indians would deal with the French in Illinois.By the endof June Penn reopened trade, but the frontiersmen were still threatening toattack the convoys.Johnson had promised the Delaware Indians that trade would be reopenedas a condition of peace on the frontier, a promise he was also making tothe Chippewas and the Shawnees.Anticipating the resumption of trade, inFebruary 1765 merchants sent goods to Fort Pitt.The first convoy of eighty-one horse-loads was dispatched by Robert Callender.As the convoy wasbypassing Fort Loudon, a barrel broke and some of the alarmed frontiersmenobserved that it was filled with scalping knives.On March 6, 1765, ahundred armed men with blackened faces calling themselves the BlackBoys followed the convoy to Great Cove on Sidelong Hill five miles fromFort Loudon, whipped the horse drivers, killed three horses, and burnedsixty-three loads of goods valued at £3,000 Pennsylvania ($345,000).Theattackers kept the other eighteen loads, mostly liquor.Later some of the attack-ers were captured and taken to Fort Loudon, but because the local residentsfavored the action of the prisoners they were released.However, the questionremained what was to be done with their rifles, an indication that they werePennsylvania frontiersmen, who usually carried rifles.When taken before a local grand jury in April 1765, the matter wasdropped because of insufficient evidence.The defense claimed that the attackhad been committed by men from Virginia.The Black Boys could not befound in May.The merchants claimed that the merchandise was not intendedfor the Indians, which was illegal but, rather, for the army at Fort Pitt.William Allen, the justice of the peace at Fort Loudon, stated that too manygoods were being sent and that five or six horse-loads would have suppliedthe garrison at Fort Pitt.Gage believed that many members of the grand juryactually had been involved in the riot.After the attack the settlers inthe area maintained a scout on the road to inspect convoys for any Indian goods.Johnson was concerned that the unhappy frontiersmen would continueto obstruct the movement of merchandise unless the army provided an escort.Baynton and Wharton asked the British army for escorts.When the 88 People of the American Frontier"first escorted convoys went forward, shots were exchanged by the soldiersand the attackers, opening a dispute between the army and the localresidents.The Indians did not believe that the Pennsylvania merchants couldsupply them at Fort Pitt so they went to Detroit with their fur, leavingBaynton and Wharton with unsold merchandise at Fort Pitt.The other source of profit on the frontier was land.An enormous opportu-nity opened up with the British acquisition of Canada in 1763.Before theSeven Years War, few American merchants had enough capital to conductlarge commercial operations in the West.However, their opportunitieschanged during the war when commercial activity expanded between 1754and 1763 to supply the British army in America.The war created fortunesfor many businessmen.The land west of the mountains, the spoils of thewar with France, were ceded to Britain in the Treaty of Paris in 1763.The new land offered two opportunities for investment trade with theIndians, or land development by acquiring large tracts and selling smallfarms to settlers
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