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The Battle of Wyoming was the last of several battles in the Pennsylvania-Connecticut wars. At that time, the disputed Pennsylvania-Connecticut border was in Central Pennsylvania.

The Connecticut-Pennsylvania border war—known as the Pennamite-Yankee Wars—was a late 18th-century territorial dispute over the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. It was not until the mid-1700s, as available farmland dwindled, that Connecticut settlers (acting through the Susquehanna Company) began aggressively moving into the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, resulting in decades of localized armed conflicts known as the Yankee-Pennamite Wars.

The conflict began because early royal charters granted overlapping claims to both colonies. Connecticut’s 1662 charter extended its western territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean, sweeping up the northern third of modern Pennsylvania. However, King Charles II granted William Penn the charter for Pennsylvania in 1681, creating an unavoidable conflict. The dispute unfolded through several key events:

Initial Settlement (1762–1769): Settlers from Connecticut (Yankees) migrated to the lush Wyoming Valley and established farms and forts. Pennsylvanians (Pennamites) viewed them as illegal squatters and sought to evict them.

The Pennamite Wars (1769–1784): This resulted in three distinct periods of armed conflict, fort sieges, and skirmishes as both colonies raised militias to control the region.

Battle of Wyoming (July 1778): A devastating tragedy during the American Revolution where a large force of British-allied Loyalist rangers and Iroquois attacked the Connecticut militia and settlers in the valley, resulting in a massacre that left hundreds dead.

The territorial conflict was definitively brought under the jurisdiction of the newly formed United States government. This landmark resolution was achieved through a multi-stage process:

The Decree of Trenton (1782): Both states agreed to let the Continental Congress settle the matter. Congress formed a federal court of arbitration that unanimously ruled in favor of Pennsylvania. This is historically significant as the very first interstate dispute settled by Congress under the Articles of Confederation.

The Continuation of Violence (1784–1788): Although Congress granted Pennsylvania jurisdiction over the land, Pennsylvania’s state government refused to recognize the property rights of the New England settlers. This sparked a violent resurgence of the conflict known as the Second and Third Pennamite Wars.

The Compromise Act of 1799: To prevent further bloodshed and settle the lingering unrest, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a compromise act that finally confirmed legal land titles for the Connecticut Yankees, provided they swore allegiance to the laws of Pennsylvania.

Thanks to Chief Shikellamy and a missionary that was raised by the Indians, Conrad Weiser, who made friends with the Penn Family in Philadelphia, the Iroquois Federation aligned with the British rather than the French.

Per Wiki: Conrad Weiser (1696–1760) was a pivotal 18th-century Pennsylvania German pioneer, farmer, and diplomat. Immigrating to the American colonies, he mastered the languages of the Iroquois Confederacy, serving as the chief interpreter and peacemaker between colonial Pennsylvania and Native American nations. He was a key figure in William Penn’s “Holy Experiment,” helping to found the city of Reading, PA, and serving as a colonel during the French and Indian War.(I think he immigrated from the Iroquois where he was raised. The Indians often kidnapped the children of the white settlers and raised them as their own. Another such child in the Wyoming Valley was Frances Slocum.)

Shikellamy’s origins are controversial. Some say he was from France, but taken captive by the Indians when he was child. Others claim that he was a Susquehannock by birth, a descendent of the Andastes, who was adopted by the Oneida tribe and, due to his valor in war, eventually named chief. What is known with certainty is that in 1727, when the Iroquois took control of the west branch of the Susquehanna River and began governing Shamokin, they sent Shikellamy to serve as resident viceroy over the great Indian town. It was their intention that he would care for all of the Indians residing along Pennsylvania’s border. Thus the Delaware, the Shawnees, the Nanticoke (or Conoy), and the Conestoga (formerly known as the Susquehannocks), looked to him to guide, direct, and settle disputes. Meanwhile the provincial leaders of the time liked to think that he was sent to keep the Shawnee in line, and since they had trouble exercising authority over the rebellious tribe themselves, they were thankful for his help and respected his leadership. The European’s admiration, combined with both the friendship he established with Moravian missionaries and his Indian authority, made him the perfect candidate to serve as an Iroquois interpreter, ambassador, and contractor among the English in Philadelphia.

His first entry into political history in Pennsylvania documents occurred in 1732 when he was called to Philadelphia to serve beside Conrad Weiser as a mediator among the Six Nations and the whites. This led to a life long devotion and comradeship. Working alongside Weiser, Shikellamy became the most respected and frequently employed Indian interpreter and ambassador of his day. Although he could not read or write, his sensitivity, tact, and control made his word law. In 1747 a Moravian missionary wrote, “Shikellamy, at this date, is emperor over all the kings and governors of the Indian nations on the Susquehanna”. He maintained the balance of power between the different tribes and acted as Agent of the Iroquois confederacy in all affairs of state and war. Much of his success stemmed from his competency of working with the Europeans instead of working against them and he was especially gifted with keeping peace among the Shawnee, who were impatient with Iroquois rule and angry at the British for being displaced. In short, Shikellamy was in charge of supervising the entire Indian population of central Pennsylvania (Everts, 27); he was considered chief, king, superintendent, deputy, emperor, and magistrate of the Indians.

Shikellamy was an Iroquois “Sachem”. A Peace Chief in charge of the many tribes of the Iroquois Federation in Pennsylvania. He lived most of his life in Shamokin (Now Sunbury) (translated as “Land of eels” as they were prevalent in the Susquehanna River). When I was young (1960’s), I used to care for his grave site along the Susquehanna River, near what was then the British Fort Augusta in Sunbury. Been interested in Pennsylvania history all my life.