USA > Virginia > Highland County > Highland County > A history of Highland County, Virginia > Part 7
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CHAPTER VIII
THE TIME OF INDIAN PERIL
War and Hunting Parties - Rivalry Between British and French - Effect of Braddock's Defeat - Precautions of the Frontiersmen - Stockades - The Clover Creek Fort - Depredations in Highland - Battles on Upper North Fork - Forays into Bath - Restored Captives - Attack on Wilson Family.
W HEN the settlement of Highland began the nearest Indian village was a small one of the Shawnees about sixty miles down the South Branch. As already stated, the red men used the Valley of Virginia only as a hunting ground and military highway, along which bands of Northern and Southern Indians made forays against one another. The chief of these war trails lay through the Shenandoah Valley, and this "Indian road" is alluded to in the surveyor's book.
Below Millboro in Bath 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, and that a girl whose lover was in the affray watched the combat from a hill- top.
The passing through of a war party was not at all welcome. Several murders were committed by these painted warriors, and several cabins were burned. In 1742 there was a battle near Balcony Falls with a party of Mingoes. It was quite needless, a Capt. McDowell having turned loose the passions of the Indians by treating them liberally with whiskey.
Small hunting parties often visited the homes of the settlers, and through them and the traders they picked up a quite service- able knowledge of the white man's tongue. That their English vocabulary was well supplied with terms of abuse and profanity is significant of the sort of language they were accustomed to hear.
The Indian was himself very hospitable, and when he came to a house he expected something to eat. Neither was he backward in making his wants known. But the Indians would sometimes
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plunder, and their exactions were a burden as well as annoyance. Such behavior was probably not always unprovoked, yet the set- tlers seem generally to have thought it the part of prudence not to make a bad matter worse. To the Indian, the white was an in- truder to pilfer from whom was not very wrong. To the white, the Indian was more objectionable than a tramp is to us.
In particular instances the frontiersman would marry an Indian woman and adopt Indian ways, and the red man would hobnob with the paleface ; yet these exceptions did not set aside the general rule that at close range no people ever really likes another.
For more than twenty years after the founding of Augusta, there was peace, such as it was, between the races. The clash came through the rival ambitions of two white nations. The English and the French had already fought three wars in America, and the decisive trial of strength was now at hand. 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 settle- ments of the former had several times been compelled to fight for their very existence, whereas, 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 by wholesale nor elbow the native out of the way. He often took an Indian wife, he lived like the native when with him, and the latter was benefited by the commodities he received for his pelts. But the British colonist preferred a wife of his own color. His numbers were greater. He cleared the land as he came along, and he scared away the larger game. He esteemed the room of the red man preferable to his company, and in dealing with him he had less tact than the Frenchman and less influence. So 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. Had he taken the place he would have dealt the French power an effective blow at a vital point, and the Indians would have been
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held in check. On the contrary he met a needless and crushing defeat, and his routed redcoats fled in panic to the very coast. A frontier of hundreds of miles was at once exposed to Indian depredation. Flushed with triumph at their easy victory, the red warriors from the Ohio proceeded to harry the frontier with fire and tomahawk.
The news of Braddock's defeat reached the Augusta people in just one week and created consternation. Hundreds of people fled across the Blue Ridge, while others stayed manfully in their settlements. To Washington was assigned the defense of the frontier with headquarters at Winchester. His force was entirely too small to protect so long a line effectually, and to make matters worse the men of one county were not inclined to help those of another. His letters give a vivid idea of those distressful days. Under date of April 15, 1756, he reports that "all my ideal hopes of raising a number of men to search the adjacent mountains have vanished into nothing." Nine days later he says, "not an hour, nay, scarcely a minute passes that does not produce fresh alarms and melancholy accounts." Still another letter declares that, "the deplorable situation of these people is no more to be described than is my anxiety and uneasiness for their relief."
The Highland area went through this trying ordeal with less injury than Bath to the south or Pendleton to the north. Some damage was inflicted, yet there was no exterminating raid into the Bullpasture Valley, to which the settlement was as yet almost wholly confined.
The log house of the frontier was built with reference to possible attack. It was 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 some instances are still occupied, in the walls of which are "shoot- ing-holes" covered by the weatherboarding which was afterward laid on.
Against an attack in open day by a few foemen, and with warning of the same, the inmates of a cabin had a chance. But against a large party, especially if aided by darkness and the
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firebrand, the odds were too great. So in time of special danger the cabin was abandoned and the family took refuge in the near- est fort.
A man taken by surprise near Fort Lewis in Bath could not get into his cabin in time to escape a flying tomahawk which grazed his head and stunned him. The wife put him on the bed, bolted the door, and kept the enemy at bay with the husband's gun. Two of them, however, mounted the roof and began to descend the cavernous chimney. The woman at once pulled the bedtick from under the man and threw it on the live coals. Stupified by the smoke the first Indian fell through and was promptly toma- hawked. The second coming to his aid shared his fate, leaving the victory with the plucky wife.
The stockade with blockhouse inside was a much better protec- tion than the strongest cabin. 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 neither fire the buildings nor lure the garrison into an ambush, they sought to reduce the fort by strategem or starvation. The whites on their part were often careless. Being used to an outdoor life it was wearisome to stay cooped up in a little inclosure, and 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 thus guarding a circuit of thirty 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 themselves.
During the winter season the settlers were quite safe. The Indians were not inclined to maraud while food was scarce and the forest leaves fallen.
But one actual stockade seems to have been built in Highland. It stood in the Bullpasture bottom midway between the Clover Creek Mill and the residence of L. M. McClung. It was thus on
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the land of Wallace Estill, whose house appears to have stood a few yards beyond the southern angle. It is the tradition that the "fort meadow" has never been plowed. This will account for the remarkable distinctness with which the outline may be traced, even though every vestige of log has crumbled into dust.
The stockade was about ninety feet square, and was placed diamond-wise with reference to the direction of the valley. At each angle was a bastion ten feet square. Inside the western angle was the powder house about twelve feet square. A few yards beyond the southern angle stood a house, probably Estill's dwelling, about eighteen by twenty-two feet with an annex twelve by twelve. Under the main portion of the house was a cellar. Toward the river from near the east corner of the stockade are plain traces of a short covered way leading to a shallow ravine, once the river channel, and perhaps at this very time. Thus the fort was evi- dently built under the direction of some person who understood the correct principles of fortification. The walls in accordance with the custom of the time were of logs set firmly into the ground and rising to a height above of ten or twelve feet.
The site was well chosen. Not only was it nearly in the heart of the Bullpasture settlement and not too near a commanding elevation, but the fort guarded the road which here crossed the river in its course from Bolar Run to the Calfpasture. As to the time and circumstances of its building there is some mystery, though it would seem highly probable that the fort was put up in accordance with the following letter from Dinwiddie to Washing- ton, dated Sept. 11, 1754 :
"I now order you to give a detachment of forty or fifty men to Capt. Lewis. With them he is to march imediately to Augusta county in order to protect our frontier from the incursions of small parties of Indians, and I suppose some French. Order him to march imediately, and to apply to Col. Patton, the County-Lieutenant, who will direct him where to proceed that he may be most useful."
Andrew Lewis obeyed instructions by marching Oct. 6, and within the next month he built a fort. Feb. 12, 1755, the Governor ordered him to garrison his fort with an ensign, a corporal, and eighteen privates. The ensign chosen to hold the post was William Wright. The Governor instructed him "to keep a good
.
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look out," to be exact in his duties, to make short excursions from the fort, and in case of alarm to apply to the County Lieutenant to have some of his militia ready at an hour's notice. But by the next July, and before Braddock's defeat, Wright was sent else- where, 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 Mountain there were scarcely any settlers at all. Northward for almost twenty miles beyond the head of the Bull- pasture there were almost none. Southward in Bath there was a considerable number, but for their protection were Forts Lewis, Dickinson, and Dinwiddie, and another fort at Green Valley.
It is rather singular that the name has been forgotton. From a letter written by Joseph Carpenter, it is conjectured that its name was Fort Nelson. This, however, is only a surmise.
The stockade was never assaulted, though on one occasion arrows were thrown at it from the hillside across the river. The distance was too great for such missiles to take any effect. Dur- ing the summer of 1754 and afterward, the people of the settle- ment forted here, and according to a statement by the late Mrs. Susan Wright, two boys were born in the stockade on the very day of Braddock's defeat, July 9, 1755. In the confusion of the hour a looking-glass was smashed, and the frame is still pre- served. One of the boys was Robert Carlile* and the other was Christopher Graham. Mrs. Wright was a daughter of the latter, and the coincidence in date was one likely to be remembered.
In the fall of 1755, Washington came from Fort Cumberland on a tour of inspection, and went at least as far as Fort Dinwiddie. He must have come by way of the Clover Creek fort since there was no other direct road. This was the only visit to Highland by the Father of his Country.
With one prominent exception, there seems very little know- ledge of particular damage by the Indians within the Highland area. A Henderson and a Wade of the Gum connection are said to have been killed by Indians, but when or where is not known. John Shaw was probably a victim. A boy of the same name was
Great uncle to the late John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky.
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spared by being concealed by a woman within the folds of her dress. Lewis Taggart, who married a sister to James Hicklin, was taken to Canada and a ransom demanded. The emissary, half French and half Indian, who went to steal him away had trouble in convincing him that all was right. They came down the Ohio living on parched corn. The guide dressed a polecat, but Taggart found he was not hungry for that sort of game.
At a council of war held in Staunton, July 27, 1756, it was resolved to build ten forts for the defence of the 250 miles of Augusta frontier, and to garrison them with 680 men. Among the recommendations were forts at Upper Tract and Trout Rock in Pendleton, at Matthew Harper's on the Bullpasture, and at Captain John Miller's, near Vanderpool Gap. The scheme as a whole was given up, only one or two of the forts being built. It is quite strange that the council made no mention of the fort at Clover Creek, the distance from Harper's on a short course being only four miles. It is possible the fort had burned, though there is no recollection of such event.
There is knowledge of two battles in Highland in 1763. 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 and the larger making a destructive raid on the Kerr's Creek settlement. On its return it camped near the head of Back Creek. A pursuing party under Captains Lewis, Dickinson, and Christian overtook the Indians and nearly effected a surprise. It was de- cided 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 yell. The other parties were not quite up, and retreating in the direction whence there was no noise, the Indians escaped with lit- tle loss aside from the stolen goods, which sold at $1,200. Only one white is said to have been killed.
But the Indians who escaped were overhauled on Straight Fork, four miles above the state line, their whereabouts being betrayed by their camp fire. All were killed but one, and the
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cook's brains were scattered into his pot. Their carrying poles were seen here many years later, and ancient guns have been found on the spot.
The disposal of the recovered property caused at least one lawsuit. The declaration in the case of William Gilmore vs. George Wilson thus reads :
During the late war the Indians came to the plantation where the plaintiff lived, and after killing his father and mother, robbed them and the said plaintiff of almost everything they had, and amongst the rest the horse in dispute-that the defendant and several others pursued the Indians for some days and retook great part of the things belonging to the plaintiff, the horse in dispute being part thereof.
The valuation of the horse was $50. The plaintiff won because of the following condition :
We agree the inhabitants of Car's Creek (the plaintiff not one of them) offered to any persons that would go after the Indians and redeem the pris- oners they should have all plunder belonging to them.
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 twenty- eight, 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.
It was perhaps on the occasion of the Stuart murder that a man coming to his house found warm cabbage and pone on the table, but no person about. This meant an Indian alarm and he hurried on to a fort.
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We have alluded to the capture of Mrs. Byrd and her children. It took place while fleeing to Fort Dinwiddie on lower Jackson's River. There is 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, Jr. who was eight years old when carried away. When he was returned, now a boy of sixteen, he was wearing a gold chain fastened to punc- tures 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 in- tended 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.
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 unwill- ing to part with their dusky comrades that force had to be used. Hunting parties followed the rescuers for days to keep their for- mer companions supplied with food.
Another of the restored captives was the wife of William Kincaid of the Calfpasture. She was kindly treated, 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 till 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. David Gwin, who was with Lewis, was certain that he recognized the girl, and at his suggestion the interpreter told 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 by his second marriage.
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In the year Mrs. Kincaid was restored, the wife of Benjamin Estill was visiting her stepfather, who lived on Middle River, five miles west of Staunton. In a raid on the house, Mrs. Estill was carried off, but her brother, Captain Moffet, made prompt pursuit and recovered her in the spurs of the Alleghany, inflict- ing considerable punishment on the raiders.
It was also in the same year - "1764" - that a raid was made on the home of William Wilson at the mouth of Bolar Run. This 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 over- come 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. In fleeing toward the house, Barbara Wilson was struck by a flying toma- hawk 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 hand 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, this causing his new hat to fall off. 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 twenty rescuers, one of whom was David Gwin, then a youth of eighteen 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
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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. She recovered and lived many years. Her wounded daughter also lived to old age, but never quite recovered from the wound in her head.
The Indians were pursued, but not overtaken. It was learned, however, that Thomas died of fever several years afterward. He had remained a captive though kindly treated. Usually he wore moccasins, but the morning of the day he was taken he put on shoes, and was the less able to run.
The house which the Wilsons were building, close to the pres- ent Stony Run Church, was completed, and 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 is yet standing in a meadow.
This is usually represented as the last raid by the Indians in Highland, yet there is knowledge of a raid as far as the Cow- pasture in 1774, shortly before the battle of Point Pleasant, and an alarm in 1783 caused women and children to flee across the Shenandoah. Not until Waynes victory in 1795, a period of more than thirty years, was there the assurance that danger from the native 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, kill 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. All this was a heavy item in the cost of subduing the wilderness.
It was after the close of hostilities that six braves crossing the Bullpasture at Buffalo ford near the Pullin home, stole fish from some men who retired under cover to let them pass. The Indians passed on and entered the Pullin house, Mrs. Pullin being present. Seeing a huge lump of tallow suspended from the ceiling,
SITE OF THE WILSON HOME
Photo by A. C. Suddarth
Looking east toward Bolar Gap. Little Mountain at the left. The Wilson blockhouse stood where the white cross is seen. The oak just beyond is where Barbara Wilson was tomahawked. The tree in the foreground is an apple tree dating from 1765
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