Editing Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (section)

===18th century===
{{See also|Pennamite–Yankee War|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}
[[File:A Map Of The State Of Pennsylvania by Reading Howell, 1792.jpg|thumb|A 1792 map of [[Pennsylvania]] with Wilkes-Barre visible in the [[Northeastern Pennsylvania|northeast]]; at the time, [[Luzerne County, Pennsylvania|Luzerne County]] occupied a vast portion of Northeastern Pennsylvania]]
By the 18th century, the [[Wyoming Valley]] was inhabited by the [[Shawnee]] and [[Lenape]], also known as Delaware Indian tribes. In 1753, the Susquehanna Company was founded in [[Connecticut Colony|Connecticut]] for settling the Wyoming Valley in present-day [[Pennsylvania]]. Connecticut succeeded in purchasing the land from the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]]; however, Pennsylvania already claimed the very same territory through a purchase they made in 1736. In 1762, roughly two hundred Connecticut settlers ([[Yankee]]s) established a settlement near [[Mill Creek (Susquehanna River tributary)|Mill Creek]]. They planted wheat and constructed log cabins. The Yankees returned to [[New England]] for the winter.<ref name="pagenweb.org">{{cite web |title=Early Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne Co., Pa. |url=http://www.pagenweb.org/~luzerne/patk/wb.htm |website=www.pagenweb.org |access-date=October 10, 2018}}</ref>

The Connecticut settlers returned in the spring of 1763 with their families and additional supplies. A party of [[Iroquois]] also visited the area with the dual purpose of turning the [[Lenape]] tribe against the colonists and killing [[Teedyuscung]], a local Lenape chief. On April 19, 1763, the residence of the chief, along with several others, was set ablaze. Chief Teedyuscung perished in the inferno. The Iroquois let the Lenape believe that this atrocity was committed by the settlers. As a result, the Lenape attacked the colonists on October 15, 1763, killing thirty settlers and taking several others as prisoners. Those who managed to escape fled back to [[New England]]. The Lenape then burned what was left of the settlement.<ref name="pagenweb.org" />

[[File:Brooklyn Museum - Colonel Isaac Barré - Gilbert Stuart - overall.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Isaac Barré]]'' by [[Gilbert Stuart]], 1785. The city was named after Barré and [[John Wilkes]].]]
In 1769, the Yankees returned to the Wyoming Valley. Five townships were established by Connecticut. Each one was five square miles and divided amongst forty settlers. [[Wilkes-Barre Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania|Wilkes-Barre Township]] was one of the original townships; it was named in honor of [[John Wilkes]] and [[Isaac Barré]]—two British members of [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] who supported [[colonial America]]. Pennsylvanians (Pennamites) also arrived in the valley that same year.<ref name="pagenweb.org" />

The Connecticut settlers established Fort Durkee, which was named in honor of their leader, Colonel Durkee. This was immediately followed by the [[Pennamite-Yankee War]]—a series of skirmishes between Pennsylvanian and Connecticut settlers. The land changed hands several times between the two groups. The [[Congress of the Confederation]] was asked to resolve the matter. With the Decree of Trenton, on December 30, 1782, the confederation government officially decided that the region belonged to Pennsylvania, and the Wyoming Valley became part of [[Northumberland County, Pennsylvania|Northumberland County]].<ref name="pagenweb.org" />

During the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] two forts were built at Wilkes-Barre. Fort Wilkes-Barre was completed in 1778 but was abandoned and burned later that year following the [[Battle of Wyoming]]. Fort Wyoming (later renamed [[Fort Dickinson]]) was constructed when the [[Continental Army]] reoccupied the Wyoming Valley and served as a staging area for the [[Sullivan Expedition]] in 1779.<ref name="Harvey">{{cite book |last1=Harvey |first1=Oscar Jewell |title=A History of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania |date=1909 |volume=2 |publisher=Raeder Press |location=Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwilkesb02harv_0}}</ref>

After the Revolutionary War the State of Pennsylvania ruled that the Connecticut settlers were not citizens of Pennsylvania. They were not permitted to vote and were ordered to give up their property claims. In May 1784, armed men from Pennsylvania force-marched the Connecticut settlers away from the valley. By November, the Yankees returned with a greater force. They captured and destroyed Fort Dickinson in Wilkes-Barre. With that victory, a new state (which was separate from both Connecticut and Pennsylvania) was proposed. The new state was to be named [[State of Westmoreland|Westmoreland]]. To ensure that they didn't lose the land, Pennsylvania's state government negotiated a compromise with the Connecticut (Yankee) settlers. The Yankee settlers would become citizens of Pennsylvania and their property claims would be restored prior to the Decree of Trenton. As part of the compromise, Pennsylvania would establish a new county in [[Northeastern Pennsylvania]]. The Yankees agreed to the terms.<ref name="pagenweb.org" />

On September 25, 1786, the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]] passed a resolution which created Luzerne County. It was formed from a section of Northumberland County and named after [[Chevalier de la Luzerne]], a [[French Royal Army (1652–1830)|French soldier]] and [[diplomat]] during the 18th century. Wilkes-Barre became the [[county seat|seat of government]] for the new territory. This resolution ended the idea of creating a new state.<ref name="pagenweb.org" /><ref>{{cite web |title=History – Kingston Borough |url=http://kingstonpa.org/history |website=kingstonpa.org}}</ref><ref>[http://colonialwarsct.org/1769.htm 1769 The Pennamite Wars], The Society of Colonial Wars in Connecticut. Accessed March 26, 2017.</ref>

In 1797, several decades after the community's founding, [[Louis Philippe I|Louis Philippe]], later the King of France from 1830 to 1848, stayed in Wilkes-Barre while traveling to the [[French Azilum|French Asylum]] settlement.<ref>{{cite web |title="A History of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania" Page 14, 1909 |url=http://www.mocavo.com/A-History-of-Wilkes-Barre-Luzerne-County-Pennsylvania-Volume-I/103014/20  |publisher=Mocavo.com |date=April 2, 2013 |access-date=May 12, 2014}}</ref>