Monette, John W. History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi, by the Three Great European Powers, Spain, France and Great Britain, and the Subsequent Occupation, Settlement, and Extension of Civil Government by the United States, Until the Year 1846, in two volumes, Volume II . New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1846. [format: book], [genre: history]. Permission: Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures, Aurora University
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were signed by hundreds, who gladly accepted the proffered amnesty. The leading insurgents were deserted, discouraged, and powerless; the first of October hailed the restoration of peace and order. ²²³

The disorganized malcontents still were sufficiently numerous to make a show of resistance, and to produce some annoyance to the tranquility of the country. The Federal government had made active preparations to subdue the rebels by force of arms, while overtures of peace were tendered to them. Already a powerful army of fourteen thousand militia, assembled from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, was on its march to the western counties of Pennsylvania. The army proceeded to Pittsburgh, and there encamped. Not a shadow of resistance was shown, and the last remains of disaffection disappeared. Bradford and a few obnoxious chiefs fled to the Spanish dominions on the Mississippi, and others to the remote settlements of the West.

An inquisitorial court was opened by General Hamilton on the part of the government, and informers flocked in by hundreds, of whom many had suffered severely from the insurgents. At length a catalogue of names was completed and handed over to a captain of dragoons, who found no lack of guides in making his arrests. A few days sufficed to place under military guard about three hundred prisoners for further examination.

The intercession of influential friends procured the discharge of many; but others, less fortunate, were detained in custody and sent to Philadelphia for trial. Some were there detained in prison for several months, and finally discharged. One individual was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for robbing the mail, but was ultimately pardoned. Thus terminated this first resistance to the laws of the country by a regularly organized insurrection. ²²⁴

The main body of the army soon afterward took up the line of march for their homes; some, at their request, were paid off and discharged at Pittsburgh. A few battalions were retained on duty through the winter. To keep down any germs of insurrectionary spirit, the government ordered the enlistment of a regiment of dragoons, to serve six months, and to be composed of such persons as were well disposed to the government.

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