Posted by Mike Slease on October 19, 2000 at 02:47:42:
In Reply to: The March on the Delaware Indian Village of Kittanning ... Part XI posted by Mike Slease on October 18, 2000 at 02:57:22:
The Journal of Lt. Col. John Armstrong
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The March on the Delaware Indian Village of Kittanning
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August ye 31st to September ye 10th, 2000
The Kittanning Expedition 2000
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Written by Mike Slease, aka, Lt. Col. John Armstrong
Epilogue
Kittanning is the county seat of Armstrong County, in western Pennsylvania. It is on the Allegheny River, about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh. When I was a small lad growing up there...we had moved to the town after Dad came home from WWII... Saturday afternoons were spent at the local movie theater, The State Theater, on Market Street, just down the hill from the Courthouse. On the building next to the theater, the Alexander Hotel, was a bronze plaque which told the story of Lt. Col. John Armstrong's September 8, 1756 raid on the Indian village of Kittanning which stood here along the river. It said that the chief, Captain Jacobs, had a log home at the place where the plaque was, and that the town had been burned by Armstrong. Each Saturday I would read that plaque and dream.
In 1954, we built a new home out in the country about 3 miles from town, and it happened to be along Armstrong's trail, and about a mile or so from Blanket Hill. My interest in this event continued to grow.
I eventually moved away from the area and settled in North Central Pennsylvania, and some years later began to reenact French and Indian War and Revolutionary War events.
A little more than a year ago, I received an email from a friend who told me that the Kittanning Expedition of Lt. Col. John Armstrong in September of 1756 was going to be recreated as a part of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania's Bicentennial Celebration, and that the organizer, Lane Savage, was looking for someone to portray Armstrong. Lane's name was very familiar to me, but I could not place him. Here was the opportunity of a lifetime staring me in the face and I was not going to allow it to get away, if at all possible. I talked about it with my wife, Nancy (the dark-haired lass!), and we agreed that I should go for it.
I contacted Lane and told him a bit about my background and interest in the raid and offered to apply for the job of being Lt. Col. Armstrong. He replied and asked me if I was the same Mike Slease who had taught flintlock rifle building classes at the Williamsport Area Community College in 1979-80. If so, he was one of my students! I was that teacher, and now his face came into view in my mind's eye.
I was "hired" to do the Colonel, since no one else applied, I guess, and I committed to doing it.
The commitment was a big one....a year in preparation for me, more than that for Lane, then ten days on the trail. This meant some serious physical conditioning, since it would be a grueling trek. The logistical problems, alone, were staggering: making sure enough 18th clothing was on hand, and if not, buy it or make it, personal gear, camp gear, gun care items, first aid considerations, water, tents, food, equipment...how would it get from place to place? What seemed like hundreds of contacts to make, the route to map and scout, potential camping places, permissions to camp or cross private property, volunteers from five counties to secure and prepare campsites, and to publicize the Expedition, Police jurisdictions and prisons to notify that an armed party would be in their area and its purpose, countless meetings and what seemed like endless emails and phone calls, insurance, media to be notified, advertising in periodicals and on the Net, attendance at other events to recruit marchers, on and on and on it went.
In the end, as most projects go, we had to do some of the work ourselves, since the ball had been dropped by a few people who had agreed early on to help, and their tasks had not been done. The list of thanks to people and organizations who came through is listed on the Kittanning Trek Homepage:
http://members.tripod.com/kittanningtrek/trek
What did it all mean?
In no particular order, it meant, to me:
The fulfillment of a lifelong dream. The chance to educate the public in an important, but relatively unknown part of Pennsylvania's colonial history. The chance to introduce people of all ages to the events that happened long ago right in their backyards, literally, all along our route, and to cause them to want to learn more on their own. Amazingly, we encountered some folks who had never heard any of this before, and had no clue it ever did happen. We educated ourselves, also, in that we learned what works and what does not work in terms of clothing and equipment on the trail. The establishment of new friendships, both within the group of marchers, as well as in the various communities we visited and the corps of volunteer who helped us in so many ways. The reunions with friends from long ago, whom I had not seen in years. Newfound respect for the people who settled the frontier. Newfound respect, too, for the Indians, and their plight as settlement encroached upon them. A real appreciation of the men of Armstrong's army and what they endured. To paraphrase my friend from Indiana University of PA, "Those dudes are tougher than I am, Brother!"
Living History--that is what is was. We played our part in making it come alive for those who saw us, and hope that our endeavor will encourage others to follow, and do their part to keep history alive.
As a footnote, I will be continuing to portray Lt. Col. Armstrong. I have been invited to speak to the fifth graders in an elementary school in Kittanning next Spring, as the Colonel, when they do their unit on the French and Indian War, which I readily agreed to do. In addition, there is a good possibility of another speaking engagement in that area, however, it has not been confirmed as of yet.
Thank you, Lane, for making all this possible.
I guess it is not really over....is it?