Cause of the War
The French who held Canada erected a number of forts on the lakes, also on the Ohio river, evidently intending to head off the English settlements westward, but to this the English would not submit; so hostilities were commenced, which at first proved disastrous to the English, the settlers in the colonies suffering the most. The French offered the Indians more for their land and better terms of trade than they received from the English and so induced them to join the French. The British sent an army under General Braddock to capture Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburg, which suffered a terrible defeat from the combined forces of the French and Indians on July 9, 1755. Emboldened by this victory the Indians were led to believe that with the help of the French they could drive all the English settlers from the country and regain their land. The Delaware Indians were not as warlike as the Iroquois, but having drawn northward and westward into their territory, were now in their power.
After the Indians had relinquished their claims to that part of the country inhabited by the Delawares and had sought habitations in other places, small roving bands frequently came through the settlements, begging their way, and caused no fear or terror among the people, who improved their farms and buildings; erected churches and school-houses and enjoyed rural life in peace and tranquillity. They had reason to believe that since they had very little to fear of the Indians while they were living almost among them, they certainly had nothing to fear from them when they had gone further away. But emboldened by their success in routing the army under Braddock, the Indians began to move eastward in larger numbers toward the border settlements. The first murder in Berks County probably occurred in the month of November, 1755. Under date of November 19, 1755, Col. Weiser wrote that he had just learned that the Indians for the first time had attacked settlers south of the Blue Mountains.[footnote]8
[footnote]8 Pa. Archives, Vol. 2, p. 503; Frontier Forts. Vol. 2, p. 71.
Taken from pp. 27, 28 of Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler, by Rev. Harvey Hostetler, D.D., 1912. This portion was prepared by William F. Hochstetler.
For more on the history of this time and Col. Weiser's important work among the settlers and Indians, see
http://www.berkshistory.org/articles/peacemaker_1960.html
For more information on the frontier forts, see
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/1pa/1picts/frontierforts/frontierforts.htm
For more information on forts, and what is available to visitors at these sites, see
http://www.geocities.com/naforts/pasocentral.html#manada
Another article on that era from a local historical society
http://www.bchistory.org/beavercounty/BeaverCountyTopical/forts/FortsMF86.html
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