This petition was signed by some forty-seven settlers, including John and Robert Fleming, Alexander Hamilton, and Samuel Horn. Unfortunately, the much-needed assistance was not forthcoming, and Colonel Hunter soon sent instructions from Fort Augusta for the evacuation of the valley. This evacuation is, of course, the Great Runaway.[34] It is interesting to note, however, that the bearer of this petition was Robert Fleming, one of the regional leaders of the territory.
Although forced to leave the West Branch Valley, the Fair Play settlers responded to Colonel Hunter's fervent plea to stay at Fort Augusta to help in the defense of this last frontier. Their gallant stand on the West Branch and their earnestly successful support of Fort Augusta, the last frontier outpost in central Pennsylvania, protected the interior, enabled the Continental Congress "to function in safety at a period when its collapse would have meant total disaster to the American cause," and provided a vivid demonstration of what a later president of the United States would call "that last full measure of devotion."[35]
In the fall of 1778, following the earlier alliance with France, the tide of the Revolution began to flow in favor of independence, notwithstanding the fact that the Fair Play territory was now deserted. But for two years previous, when the issue of independence had been in grave doubt, the courageous pioneers of the West Branch stood their ground in tiny garrisons at Fort Antes, Fort Horn, and Fort Reed, resisting the attacking Indians at the insistence of their leaders, that freedom might be preserved. Perhaps it is a little-known story, but the fate of independence was in good hands with the Fair Play settlers of the West Branch Valley, who fought to preserve it.
Towards the end of the Revolution the Fair Play settlers returned to the territory, and a new problem arose, that of title claims or, more particularly, the right of pre-emption. Still outside the bounds of the Commonwealth and organized government, these frontier squatters petitioned the Supreme Council for validation of their land claims.[36] Two petitions, one in August, 1781, and the other in March, 1784, were sent. Their claims were recognized by an act of the General Assembly passed in May, 1785.[37] By this time, the land in question had been opened for settlement by virtue of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. Needless to say, their petitions had been prompted in part by fear of land speculators who were attempting to buy up their lands through the Land Office in Philadelphia. The prominence of local leaders, such as Alexander Hamilton and John Walker, is once again noted in these petitions. These petitions achieved notable results in that the right of pre-emption for the West Branch squatters was recognized by the Commonwealth long before the national government endorsed the principle. Furthermore, the validation of these claims beyond the purchase line of the Stanwix Treaty of 1768 provided the first legal recognition of pre-emption in the State of Pennsylvania.