could give shelter to a lurking foe was levelled to the
ground. There were in Fort Pitt at this time about a
hundred women and their children--families of settlers
who had come to the fertile Ohio valley to take up homes.
These were provided with shelter in houses made shot-proof.
Small-pox had broken out in the garrison, and a hospital
was prepared under the drawbridge, where the patients in
time of siege would be in no danger from musket-balls or
arrows. But the best defence of Fort Pitt was the capacity
of Ecuyer--brave, humorous, foresighted; a host in
himself--giving courage to his men and making even the
women and children think lightly of the power of the
Indians.

It was nearly three weeks after the siege of Detroit had
begun that the savages appeared in force about Fort Pitt.
On May 27 a large band of Indians came down the Alleghany
bearing packs of furs, in payment for which they demanded
guns, knives, tomahawks, powder, and shot, and would take
nothing else. Soon after their departure word was brought
to Ecuyer of the murder of some traders and settlers not
far from the fort. From that time until the beginning of
August it was hazardous for any one to venture outside
the walls; but for nearly a month no attack was to be
made on the fort itself. However, as news of the capture
of the other forts reached the garrison, and as nearly
all the messengers sent to the east were either slain or
forced to return, it was evident that, in delaying the
attack on Fort Pitt, the Indians were merely gathering
strength for a supreme effort against the strongest