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Volume 14 , Issue 92012Weekly eZine: (374 subscribers)Subscribe | Unsubscribe Using Desktop... |
Highland County Virginia - Time of Indian Peril
This week we bring you Chapter VIII of Oren Frederic Morton's book, A History of Highland county, Virginia. The nearest Indian village near the Highland settlement of Virginia was a small village of the Shawnees about 60 miles down the South Branch. The Indians used the Valley of Virginia only as a hunting ground and military highway, which bands of Northern and Southern Indians made forays against one another. The chief of these war trails laid through the Shenandoah Valley and alluded to in the surveyor's book as the "Indian road."
The Shawnee Indians move around a lot trying to avoid conflict with the colonists as well as marauding Indians from other tribes. The Shawnee originally came from what is now known as Ohio. The Shawnee could have been found as far away as New York. Many of the Shawnee settled into what is now the state of Oklahoma.
The Shawnee did not live in permanent shelters. They lived in round wigwams which were reminiscent to what we would call igloos, but instead of being made from ice these wigwams were made from sheets of tree bark, tree saplings (which helped form the framework), cattails, thick brush grass and other natural materials.
The Shawnee Indians did not have a warrior-like existence. BUT . . . They did their share of fighting to protect their families, the land and their way of life. These Indians were also proud of their heritage and used storytelling as a way to pass along the history, stories of their ancestors.
Small hunting parties often visited the homes of the settlers, picking up serviceable knowledge of the whtie man's tongue. The Indian was himself very hospitable when he came to a house and he expected something to eat. He was not backward in making his wants known. To the INidan, the white settlers was an intruder to pilfer from whom was not considered wrong. To the white settlers, the Indian was more objectionable than a tramp.
The frontiersman would marry an Indian woman and adopt Indian ways, and the Indian would hobnob witht he paleface. For more than 20 years after the founding of Augusta, there was peace between the races. The clash came through the rival ambitions of two white nations.
The English and the French, which had already fought three wars in America. The French claimed all the country west of the Alleghany divide, and so did the English. By 1754 the British-Americans had not only pushed inward to this very line, but were pressing beyond it. The settlements of the British-Americnas were compelled to fight for their very existence. The weak, scattered settlements of the french had usually been let alone. This was because of the difference between the two nations in their attitude toward the Indian.
The Frenchman did not clear the land or elbow the native out of the way. He often took an Indian wife and lived like the natives when with them. The latter was benefited by the commodities he received for his pelts. The British colonist preferred a wife of their own color, and their numbers were greater. He cleared the land as he came along, and scared away the larger game.
The British colonist in dealing with the Indian had less tact than the Frenchman and less influence. When Governor Dinwiddie precipitated the fighting that took place between 1754 and 1760, the tribes generally sided with the French and were very helpful allies. In 1755 Braddock marched his army against Fort Duquesne and he met a needless and crashing defeat and his routed redcoats fled in panic to the very coast. A frontier of hundreds of miles was exposed to Indian depredation. Flushed with triumph at their easy victory, the red warriors from the Ohio proceeded to persistently harass the frontier with fire and tomahawks.
The news of Braddock's defeat reached the Augusta people in one week and created consternation. Hundreds of people fled across the blue Ridge, while others stayed manfully in their settlements. Washington was assigned the defense of the frontier with headquarters at Winchester. His force was too small to protect so long a line effectually. To make matters worse the men of one county were not inclined to help those of another. Washington's letters gave a vivid idea of those distressful days -- under date of 15 April 1756, Washington reports that "All my ideal hopes of raising a number of men to search the adjacent mountains have vanished into nothing." Nine days later WAshington wrote, "Not an hour, nay, scarcely a minute passes that does not produce fresh alarms and melancholy accounts." Still another letter declared that, "The deplorable situation of these people is no more to be described than is my anxiety and uneasiness for their relief."
Highland county went through this trying ordeal with less injury than Bath to the south or Pendleton to the north. Some damage was inflicted, but there was no exterminating raid into the Bullpasture valley, to which the settlement was as yet almost wholly confined.
The Log House
The log house of the frontier was built with reference to possible attack; near a spring; The door could be strongly barred; the windows were too small for a man to crawl through; there were loopholes in the walls through which the inmates could fire; and if possible it was not too near the spot where the enemy could find cover. Houses in this region still stand and in the walls you might might find shooting-holes covered by the weatherboarding which was laid on the walls afterward.
There is a story of a man taken by surprise near Fort Lewis in Bath county, that could not get into his cabin in time to escape a flying tomahawk which grazed his head and stunned him. His wife put him on the bed, bolted the door, and kept the enemy at bay with the husband's gun. Two Indians mounted the roof and began to descend the cavernous chimney. The woman at once pulled the bed tick from under the man and threw it on the live coals. The Indians were stupefied by the smoke and the first indian fell through the and was promptly tomahawked. The second coming to his aid shared his fate, leaving the victory with the plucky wife.
The stockade with blockhouse inside was amuck better protection than the strongest cabin, though. It was a far easier means to keep the enemy at a safe distance in any direction. The Indians had small relish for assaulting a stockade. If they could not fire the buildings nor lure the garrison into an ambush, they sought to reduce the fort by stratagem or starvation. The whites on their part were often careless. They (settlers) were used to an outdoor life and it was wearisome to stay cooped up in a little enclosure. If the enemy were not positively known to be near, they would take very imprudent risks, and were often killed or captured by Indians lurking near the fort.
It was the practice for two or more rangers to set out from a stockade with provisions for three or four days, and watch the trails and passes in the vicinity, sometimes guarding a circuit of 30 miles. If signs of Indians were detected an alarm was given, so that families at their own homes could flee to the fort. When their provisions were gone, the scouting party would be relieved by another. Some of the frontiersmen became even more skilled in woodcraft than the Indians.
The settlers were safe during the winter season, because the Indians were not inclined to maraud while food was scarce and the first leaves had fallen. One actual stockade seems to have been built in Highland county, Virginia. it stood in the Bullpasture bottom midway between the Clover Creek Mill and the Residence of L. M. McClung. It was on the land of Wallace Estill, whose house appears to have stood a few yards beyond the southern angle; about 90 feet square and placed diamond-wise with reference to the direction of the valley. At each angle was a bastion ten feet square. Inside the western able was the powder house about 12 feet square. A few yards beyond the southern angle stood a house, probably Estill's dwelling, about 18 by 22 feet square with an annex 12 by 12 feet. Under the main portion of the house was a cellar. Toward the river from near the east corner of the stockade were plain traces of a short covered way leading to shallow ravine, once the river channel. The fort was bult under the direction of some person who understood the correct principles of fortification. The walls in accordance with the time were of logs set firmly into the ground and rising to a height above 10 or 12 feet. The fort in the heart of the Bullpasture settlement and near a commanding elevation as it guarded the road which crossed the river in its course from Bolar Run to the Calfpasture.
It is highly probable that the fort was put up in accordance with the following letter from Dinwiddie to Washington, dated 11 September 1754:
Andrew Lewis obeyed instructions by marching Oct. 6, and within the next month he built a fort. On February 12, 1755, the Governor ordered him to garrison his fort with an ensign, a corporal and 18 privates. The ensign chosen to hold the post was William Wright. The Governor instructed him, "To keep a good look out," to be exact in his duties, to make short excursions front he fort, and in car of alarm to apply to the county Lieutenant to have some of his militia ready at an hour's notice. By the next July, and before Braddock's defeat, Wright was sent elsewhere, probably to the Holston River.
This Clover Creek fort stood on a direct road to Staunton and thus held vigil over a point which it was important to protect. West of Jack Mountains there were scarcely any settlers at all. Northward for almost 20 miles beyond the head of the Bullpasture there were almost none. South ward in Bath there was a considerable number, but for their protection were Forts lewis, Dickinson and Dinwiddie and another fort at Green Valley.
It was the tradition that the "fort meadow" had never been plowed, which will account of the remarkable distinctness with which the outline may be traced, even though every vestige of log had crumbled to dust.
I looked in my ancestry files and found a Marca Estill, who married into the GWIN ancestors through James Gwin, Sr. (1740-1811), the son of Robert Gwin (1717-1785) and Jean Kincaid (1720-1790) and the brother to my 4th-Great Grandfather, Capt. David Gwin (1742-1822), who had a daughter, Rachel Viola Gwin (21 Dec. 1802-15 Feb. 1847) that married into the McClung family via William H. McClung (1793-1865).
It was the Fall of 1755, when Washington came from Fort Cumberland on a tour of inspection, and went at least as far as Fort Dinwiddie. The rumors are that he came by way of the Clover Creek fort since there was no other direct road. This was the only visit to Highland by George Washington.
There seems very little knowledge of particular damage by the Indians within the Highland area, except for a Henderson and a Wade of the GUM connection that were said to have been killed by Indians, but when or where is not known. John Shaw may have been a victim, also.
There is the story of a boy who was Great uncle to the late John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, who was spared by being concealed by a woman within the folds of her dress.
There is knowledge of two battles in Highland in 1763, when an Indian band exterminated the Greenbrier settlement, ambushed and defeated a party under Captain Moffet at Falling Spring in Bath, passed over to the Cowpasture, and there burned the Dougherty home. The band divided, the smaller party returning the larger making a destructive raid on the Kerr's Creek settlement. On a pursuing party's return under Captains Lewis, Dickinson and Christian, they overtook the Indians and nearly effected a surprise. It was decided to attack at three points. Two men sent in advance were to fire if they found the enemy had taken alarm. They fell upon two Indians, one leading a horse, the other holding a buck upon it. To avoid discovery they fired and Christian's men charged with a a yell. The other parties were not quite up, and retreating in the direction whence there was no noise, the Indians escaped with little loss aside from the stolen goods, which sold at $1,200. Only one white settler was said to have been killed.
The region comprised in BAth and Alleghany suffered severely. Forts Lewis and Dickinson were both assaulted. Men did not attend church at Windy Cove without taking their guns, and a sentinel stood at the door. In September, 1756, thirteen persons were killed around Fort Dinwiddie, including John Byrd, James Mayse, James Montgomery, George Kinkead, and Nicholas Carpenter. Two others are mentioned as wounded, while 28 (mostly children) were carried away. Among these were Mrs. Byrd and six children, Mrs. Kinkead and three , besides five children of Joseph Carpenter, who was himself taken but escaped.
In 1757, Sergeant Henry, James Stuart, and three others were killed, three were wounded and James McClung and thirteen more were taken. In 1758, John and William McCreary, Moses Moore and a boy named William Ward were captured. But in this year Fort Duquesne fell and there was a partial respite from further depredation.
Mrs. Byrd and her children's capture by the Indians took place while fleeing to Fort Dinwiddie on lower Jackson's River. There was no further account of the mother and four of the children. The oldest, then a girl of ten years,is said to have married an Indian. The only one to return was John Byrd, JR., who was eight years old when carried away. When he was returned at the age of sixteen, he a was waring a gold chain fastened to unctuous in his nose and ears. His bravery put him in high favor with his captors. They had him climb trees to drive bears out of them, but took care that he was not harmed. The only time he took fright was when he heard a gun and knew a bear was making for him. The Indians were greatly attached to the boy and intended making him a chief. He made two attempts to return to them, but was prevented, and became ancestor of the Byrds of Bath and Highland countries of Virginia.
After the collapse of the French power, the Indians were humbled by expeditions sent against them. By the treaty of 1764, they were required to give up their captives, and 32 men and 58 women and children were thus restored to their Virginia homes. The Indians were kind to the captives they adopted, and when the latter had been taken in childhood they were usually so unwilling to part with their Indian families, and force had to be used. Hunting parties followed the rescuers for days to keep their former companions supplied with food.
Another of the restored captives was the wife of William Kincaid of the Calfpasture. The wife was treated kindly, especially at the birth of a daughter, a few months after she was carried off. An Older daughter, whose name was Isabella, was not restored until afterward. She was found by Captain Charles Lewis in a village on the Muskingum. She was dressed in skins, spoke only the Indian language, and clung to the skirt of a squaw. My 4th Great Grandfather, Captain David GWIN was with Lewis and recognized the girl when he suggested the interpreter tell the squaw to take off the child's moccasin. A little toe was found missing, which had accidentally been cut off by her brother. She married Andrew Hamilton and one of her descendants is the wife of Captain John S. Wise of the city of New York. Captain GWIN named for her his first child (Isabella GWIN) by his second marriage.
In the year (1764) Mrs. Kincaid was restored, the wife of Benjamin Estill and was visiting her stepfather on Middle River, five miles west of Staunton when there was a raid on the house and Mrs. Estill was carried off, but her brother, Captain Moffet, made prompt pursuit and recovered her in the spurs of the Alleghany and inflicting considerable punishment on the raiders.
Also, in 1764 a raid was made on the home of William Wilson at the mouth of Bolar Run. It took place in the month of July and by a portion of a larger band, which had divided to inflict further damage. The family were building a new house, and John (the older son) had gone away for nails and for help in the raising. His brother Thomas was at the gristmill, two sisters were washing tow linen at the river, and the other two were ironing in the house. The mother was with her daughters at the river. The father and some other men were trimming the logs for the new house. An Irishman was weaving outdoors near the old house. Thomas, alone at the mill, was overcome after a hard struggle, as appeared from the torn sod, and was tied to a sugar maple on which he managed to cut his name.
The three women at the river were then attacked. Barbara Wilson fled toward the house but was struck by a flying tomahawk and rendered unconscious, but was not scalped. The mother, moving more slowly, was wounded in the same manner but in the wrist. The weaver escaped with a bullet wound in his shoulder. The other daughters secured the door, and scorched with a hot iron the and of the Indian who tried to unlatch it. The men at the logs now came along, and the Indians fled over Back Creek Mountain, but carried Thomas with them. It was perhaps owing to their haste that they did not scalp the injured women.
John Wilson was near by on his return and was fired upon, knocking off his new hat. He stooped to pick it up and heard the satisfied grunts of his foe who thought he had fallen. Realizing his danger he made his way over Jack Mountain to the Bullpasture, where he assembled a band of about 20 rescuers, one of whom was David GWIN, then a youth of 18 years. When they were near, John Wilson hung his saddle in a tree and went on afoot. The mill was found running. It now being dark he had to approach the house cautiously, because the family kept some cross dogs. The father and sisters were there, but the mother was missing. In the morning she was trailed, and found a mile up the river, whither she had walked and crawled in a dazed condition, we do not know. She recovered and lived many years. Her wounded daughter (Barbara Wilson) also lived to old age, but never quite recovered front he wound in her head.
The Indians were pursued and not overtaken. Thomas died of fever several years afterward. He had remained a captive though he was kindly treated. Thomas usually wore moccasins, but the morning he was taken he had put on shoes, and was less able to run. The house which the Wilsons were building was close to the present Stony Run Church and was completed. It stood until about 1895 when it was torn down. It was called a fort and there was a porthole in the attic. The floor boards were nicely edged and fitted. The swamp oak near which Barbara was wounded was still standing in a meadow when Oren F. Morton compiled his book of Highland county, Virginia.
This was represented as the last raid by the Indians in Highland county, but there was knowledge of a raid as far as the Cowpasture in 1774, shortly before the Battle roy Point Pleasant, and an alarm in 1783 caused women and children to flee across the Shenandoah. Not until Waynes victory in 1795 was there the assurance that danger from the Indians was wholly an episode of the past.
The Highland of 1754-64 was a young, thinly peopled frontier community, compelled to live within reach of the stockaded fort; compelled to use watchful care with the help of large dogs, lest at any moment the stealthy foe might approach through the deep woods, ill or maim the adults of the family, regardless of age or sex, and carry away young children who though spared might yet be lost to the parents. A heavy item in the cost of subduing the wilderness.
Indian Mound
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If you go traveling in Bath County, below Millboro, there is a memento of the war trail in the form of a mound containing skeletons. Tradition has it that the mound is the result of a fight between Indian bands. A girl's lover was in the affray and she watched the combat from a hilltop.
The cemetery location is 13.5 miles south from Millboro Springs, Virginia, on Route #42, thence .4 mile right on Route #631. Indian Mound, 300 yards on east side of the road, on property of Edward Matheney, in an open field. The property where this mound is located, has always been known as "Indian Hill," Bath County, Virginia. | View or Add Comments (0 Comments) | Receive updates ( subscribers) | Unsubscribe
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