east of the mouth of Fishing Creek, near its confluence with the Susquehanna River, in present-day Dauphin County. Fort Hunter was initially a stockaded gristmill in the Great Valley, owned by Samuel Hunter who lived on Fishing Creek. The mill was fortified with a simple stockade in January, 1756, and garrisoned with volunteer militia recruited by Thomas McKee, an Indian trader who operated a trading post nearby. He was appointed captain of "McKee's Volunteers," but provisions, clothing and ammunition were in short supply, and the post was vulnerable to attack. On 8 March, 1756, Benjamin Franklin wrote to August Gottlieb Spangenberg that: "We are apt to think, that the Guarrison in the Forts, after being a little more used to the Woods, and acquainted with the cunning Contrivances of the Savages, will be more diligent and successful, in ranging of the Woods; especially if Col. Clapham, who is reckond a very vigilant Gentleman, should soon come up again." On 7 April, 1756, Governor Morris ordered Clapham to march his regiment to Hunter's Mill to begin construction.<ref name = "Carr">[http://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/digging-fort-hunters-history/ James Herbstritt, Janet Johnson and Kurt Carr, "Digging Fort Hunter’s History," Pennsylvania Heritage," Fall 2011]</ref> On 11 May, 1756, McKee handed over command of the fort to Colonel Clapham. The fort probably consisted of a block house surrounded by a defensive ditch. There are references in historic documents to a stockade and to the construction (in January, 1757) of "a Room for the Officers & Barracks for the Soldiers...in Hunters Fort." It was described as having "a commanding view of the river." Fort Halifax was 160 feet wide with bastions, so Fort Hunter was likely similar in construction, but no drawings or plans exist. The fort was abandoned and fell into ruins after 1763. The community of Fort Hunter, Pennsylvania was established nearby after 1787. Dispute with Governor Morris Clapham's temperament was revealed in May, 1756, when he and several officers stayed with Governor Robert Morris at Harris's Ferry, operated by John Harris Sr. and the future site of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Captain Joseph Shippen later wrote to his father that Governor Morris had made some remarks which offended Clapham, so that Clapham refused to speak to the governor for several days afterward, and eventually saddled his horse with intent to ride away and abandon his troops. Captain Shippen and other officers persuaded Clapham not to leave, and were able to mediate