1763 -- PONTIAC'S
              REBELLION

Although this particular set of hostilities was not known for having occasioned wide-scale Indian warfare throughout Northampton County, the looming prospect of disruptive havoc weighed heavily upon the Dupui family.  In mid-July 1762, they once more took the prudent step of curtailing customer credit arrangements (which weren't restored again until April of 1764).

September of 1762 had already seen the arrival of a set of Connecticut settlers whom had laid claim to the nearby Wyoming and Susquehanna river valleys.  Bolstered by the victory in the French and Indian War that had reduced the likelihood of regional Indian attacks, these newly arrived homesteaders apparently had no particular qualms about encroaching upon native lands in the area, and such behaviors soon became more than a sufficient cause for regional concerns to emerge. 

The climate of war at the time was already pervasive (as early August of 1763 had just witnessed the Battle of Bushy Run in western Pennsylvania).  There, Henry Bouquet's forces were challenged by the combined might of Shawnee, Mingo, Wyandot and Delaware war parties.  For those in Northampton County, it was the Delawares who posed the most pervasive and persistent threat.

Predictions of dire consequences would ultimately be borne out soon after the 19 April 1763 death of Delaware Chief Teedyuscung, as Teedyuscung's son, known locally as Captain Bull, in October led raiders into Northampton County where they killed at least 14 people.  On returning to the Wyoming Valley, Bull's war party then wiped out the Connecticut settlement.

Of course, no discussion that mentions Henry Bouquet would be complete without a passing reference to his discussions with General Jeffery Amherst.  Their correspondence:

Amherst:  "Could it not be contrived to send the small pox among those disaffected tribes of Indians?  We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them." Bouquet:  "I will try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets that may fall in their hands, taking care however not to get the disease myself." Amherst:  "You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race."