Fort Antes - The Big Runaway

The Big Runaway

Robert Covenhoven, who had served under George Washington in the Continental Army, rode west along the ridge of Bald Eagle Mountain to warn settlers and the militia at Fort Antes. Covenhoven followed the ridge for two reasons: first, experience told him that the Native Americans would not be on the level summit of the ridge, thus making him safe from personal attack, and second, he would be able to scout the situation in the valley from atop the ridge. Covenhoven, who was joined by an unnamed employee of Culbertson's Mill in modern Duboistown was able to see Fort Antes from the ridge. As he slowly approached the stockade, Covenhoven heard the report of a rifle shot and made a run for the fort thinking that he was under fire. This proved to be false - although there were Native Americans in the area and one did fire his weapon, the fire was not aimed at Robert Covenhoven. Instead a young woman outside the stockade milking a cow was the target, as evidenced by the bullet hole that pierced the folds of her dress. After giving the orders that prompted the Big Runaway, Covenhoven returned to Fort Augusta. Covenhoven is listed as a Fair Play Man and one of the signers of the Tiadaghton Declaration of Independence. Following the war he continued to serve as a scout on the frontier before retiring to Piatt Township on the north side of the West Branch Susquehanna River.

Most settlers had already gathered at Fort Antes, prior to Covenhoven's arrival, but now the fort and the settlers' homes and fields were abandoned, with livestock driven along and a few possessions floated on rafts on the river east to what is now Muncy, then further south to Fort Augusta at what is now Sunbury. Women and children rode on the rafts, while the men walked on the river bank to protect them and to drive along the livestock they had been able to save. Their abandoned property was burnt by the attackers. Some settlers reported fleeing at night with the glow of their burning settlements lighting the sky behind them.

Fort Horn and the other Fair Play Men settlements were all destroyed. Only Fort Antes (made of hard-to-burn peeled oak logs) and the fortified Wallis House (made of stone) in Muncy Township survived the flames. The property losses were estimated at £40,000, and there were deaths among the settlers. Colonel Hunter, the commander of Fort Augusta who had ordered the mass evacuation, was criticized roundly. Many at the time felt that military assistance would have allowed the settlers to withstand the attackers.