Fort Dickinson (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
Wilkes-Barre · Pennsylvania · Pennamite Wars
History & Significance
The Pennamite–Yankee Wars were a series of conflicts between 1769 and 1799 in which settlers from Connecticut and Pennsylvania disputed control of the Wyoming Valley. Major John Durkee erected Fort Durkee in 1769 as a Pennamite stronghold on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River at Wilkes-Barre.
The fort was garrisoned by 100 men and armed with four guns across four blockhouses. It changed hands several times during the following decade of conflict.
In 1783, the post was renamed Fort Dickinson, which may reflect growing Pennsylvania administrative consolidation after the Decree of Trenton on December 30, 1782, when the Continental Congress decided the region belonged to Pennsylvania. By November 1784, after Pennsylvania had force-marched Connecticut settlers from the valley in May, the Yankees returned with greater force and captured and destroyed Fort Dickinson. This destruction prompted a proposal for a new state called Westmoreland, and Pennsylvania reversed course, agreeing that Yankee property claims predating the Decree of Trenton should be honored.
Key Facts
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Dickinson
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkes-Barre,_Pennsylvania
- https://www.luzernecounty.org/422/History-of-Luzerne-County
- https://www.britannica.com/place/Wilkes-Barre
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennamite%E2%80%93Yankee_Wars
- https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php%3FmarkerId=1-A-178.html
- https://www.wilkes.edu/about-wilkes/history/naming-wilkes-barre.aspx
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