The Lenape allies of the British began conducting raids on the Pennsylvania frontier soon after the outset of the American Revolution. An attack at the mouth of Pine Creek in December 1777 and another attack further upstream, near modern Lock Haven, prompted action by Pennsylvania's militia to try to protect the frontiersmen on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Colonel Samuel Hunter ordered Colonel Antes to gather a force of men from the West Branch Valley to gather at Antes' property. The men of the militia built a stockade that was at least 12 feet (4 m) high around the Antes home. The stockade enclosed approximately three quarters of an acre (3,000 m²). Colonel Antes was forced to defend an extensive frontier that was under steady attack from Native American and Tory forces that were dispatched to Pennsylvania from Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario in New York.