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Anxious Hospitality: Indian "Loitering" at Fort Allen, 1756–1761
| Of the many occupations Benjamin Franklin pursued during his storied life, one of the least acclaimed was that of frontier fort builder. Franklin's achievements in philosophy, politics, diplomacy, and science are so significant that his contributions to defending Pennsylvania during the late-1750s Delaware Indian uprising have paled in comparison. But given the unexpected developments at Franklin's Fort Allen, it is fitting that it was planned and built by an individual known more for his diplomatic legacy than his martial expertise. Constructed as part of a chain of defensive outposts to protect Pennsylvania's towns and cities from Indian threats, Fort Allen instead became a diplomatic way station, a moderately successful trading post, and even a drunken watering hole. In fact, the fort became many things, but it never really fulfilled its original purpose in Pennsylvania's frontier defense plans. Like other forts scattered throughout British North America, Fort Allen's mission was defined not only by those who planned and built it, but also by its occupants and visitors. Fort Allen was not exceptional in this regard. It does, however, provide an excellent example of how the collision of provincial military imperatives, backcountry settlement ambitions, and Native American cultures helped define and complicate an outpost's mission. |
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Much of the tension that defined Fort Allen's brief existence on the northern slope of Pennsylvania's 150-mile-long Blue Mountain ridge stemmed from its frequent Indian guests. Situated astride the Lehigh River near a vital passage through the ridge, the fort was sure to attract native passersby. It was especially well placed as a stopping point for Indian diplomatic visitors to the Lehigh Valley towns of Easton and Bethlehem. During such visits, native travelers expected the full hospitality of the fort's garrison and commandant, as they would of any hosts throughout Indian country. Thus, Fort Allen became a native diplomatic checkpoint and resting place, a dramatic shift from its original role as a frontier base for punitive expeditions against belligerent Delawares. With hundreds of Indians visiting each year, and with a garrison that never exceeded one hundred men and seldom exceeded fifty, it is understandable that Indian visitors helped define the identity and nature of the small wooden stockade. Meant to reassure local settlers and to bring stability to the liminal geography that divided the upper Susquehanna River Indian country and British Pennsylvania, Fort Allen produced unexpected and ironic results. Instead of keeping Delawares away from the Blue Mountain region, it attracted them. Instead of regulating unscrupulous British traders, the fort helped bring them a ready, native customer base. Fort Allen ultimately became an Indian place as well as an English one, and the most famous resident was not Franklin or some other provincial celebrity, but rather the renowned Delaware chief Teedyuscung. Colonial exigencies and anxieties merged with native notions of hospitality and reciprocal obligation at Fort Allen, producing a place of anxious hospitality for both Europeans and Indians.1 |
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