PART II.

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF WESTERN VIRGINIA.

1700-1754.

CHAPTER I.

INDIAN TOWNS ON THE OHIO.

WHEN the whites first penetrated the beautiful valley of the Upper Ohio, they found it occupied by numerous and powerful tribes of hostile savages, who held it more as a common hunting ground than a place of permanent abode.

With the exception of Logstown, eighteen miles below the forks of the Monongahela and Alleghany; a Mingo village at the mouth of Beaver; a Shawanee town near the Great Kanawha, and another near the Scioto, but few native settlements were to be found on the banks of the "River of Blood:" the fearfully significant name given by some of the tribes of Indians to the beautiful stream which sweeps along our Western border.

Tradition tells of many a bloody battle along the shores of this grand old river, over whose sylvan banks has so often rushed the crimson tide of Indian massacre. Many, indeed, are said to have been the warlike feats here enacted, between bands of fierce and savage warriors. Here it was that the stern Iriquois met the equally determined and relentless Massawomee, and maintained those long and bloody strifes

34

GOVERNOR SPOTTSWOOD'S EXPEDITION. [CHAP. I.

which ultimately imparted to the whole region the very appropriate title of "dark and bloody ground."

The most powerful confederacy of native tribes, found here by the French and English, was the Massawomees, so called by the Indians of Eastern Virginia, to whom they were a constant source of dread and alarm.

The Massawomees occupied, to the exclusion of almost every other tribe, the entire region stretching from the Blue Ridge to the Ohio river. The encroachments of the whites compelled them gradually to retire, until at last they were forced over the Alleghanies, leaving the "Valley" unoccupied, save by occasional predatory bands of Southern tribes. But the march of the Anglo-Saxon westward was slow in the extreme. It was not until more than one hundred years had elapsed from the settlement of Jamestown, that a project was conceived for crossing the great rocky barrier, whose frowning heights seemed to shut out all communication between the primitive settler and the region west.

In 1710, Lieutenant Governor Spottswood, whese military genius, as displayed in the campaigns of Marlborough, had won the esteem of his sovereign, and secured him the appointment of Colonial Governor in Virginia, determined to explore the trans-montane region. He had heard of the great beauty and extent of the country lying between the parallel mountains, but of the region beyond the Alleghany nothing definite could be ascertained, as the most daring adventurer had rarely tried to surmount its rugged height, and scan the outspread landscape which opened its charms to the setting sun.

Equipping a company of horsemen, Gov. Spottswood headed it in person, and commenced his march from Williamsburg in great pomp. Nothing occurred to mar the interest of the occasion, and in due time the expedition reached the Valley.

It is a common belief that this title was given alone to what now constitutes the State of Kentucky. But this is a mistake: it was applied with equal force to most of the country bordering the Upper Ohio.

2 Jefferson's Notes, 181.

1710.]

ORDER OF THE GOLDEN HORSE SHOE.

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The governor was enraptured with the view. Bright flowers, rendered doubly beautiful by the transparent purity of the atmosphere and the deep serenity of the azure heavens, covered the ground in almost every direction. Amid forests of fragrant trees, or deep hid in perfumed alcoves,-spots more enchantingly beautiful than were ever graced by Calypso and her nymphs; they found those mysterious Hygeian fountains whose health-preserving properties now enjoy a world-wide fame. Pushing on, the expedition at length reached the base of the Alleghanies, and struggling upward through rugged defile, and over frowning precipice, the intrepid governor, with his little party, at length gained the summit of that great mountain barrier. Never, perhaps, before had the voice of civilized man broken the solitude which reigned around. The point attained, commanded a magnificent view of the outspread country beyond. It was one of the highest peaks of the great Appalachian range; and gazing down into the illimitable wilderness, they there resolved that the whole extent should be peopled, and the forest be made to blossom as the rose. How well the spirit which prompted that resolution has been carried out by the descendants of the Virginia colonists, let the eight or ten millions of happy and prosperous people who now throng the great Valley of the West answer.

After the return of Governor Spottswood and his party, he established the "Transmontane Order, or Knights of the Golden Horse-Shoe," giving to each of those who accompanied him a miniature golden horse-shoe, bearing the inscription, "Sic jurat transcendere Montes."

1 "Thus he swears to cross the mountains." The writer of the Outline in Howe says that Gov. S. was knighted for this achievement, and had conferred upon him a golden horse-shoe, with the above motto, for his coat of arms. He evidently labors under a mistake, as we find no authority for such a statement.

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CHARACTER OF THE SETTLERS.

[CHAP. II.

CHAPTER II.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE VALLEY.

IN 1732, the first permanent settlement by whites west of the Blue Ridge, was made near where Winchester now stands. Sixteen families from Pennsylvania, headed by Joist Hite, composed this little colony, and to them is due the credit of having first planted the standard of civilization in Virginia, west of the mountains.1

In 1734, Benjamin Allen, with three others, settled on the North Branch of the Shenandoah, about twelve [1734.] miles south of the present town of Woodstock. Other adventurers pushed on, and settlements gradually extended west, crossing Capon River, North Mountain and the Alleghany range, until finally they reached the tributaries of the Monongahela.

The majority of those who settled the eastern part of the Valley were Pennsylvania Germans; a class of people distinguished for their untiring industry, and love of rich lands.

Many of these emigrants had no sooner heard of the fertility of the soil in the Shenandoah valley, than they began to spread themselves along that stream and its tributaries. "So completely did they occupy the country along the north and south branches of that river, that the few stray English, Irish or Scotch settlers among them did not sensibly affect the homogeneousness of the population. They long retained, and for the most part do still retain, their German language, and the German simplicity of their manners."2

1 Kercheval, 65.

2 Introduction to History of Washington College; MS. volume of Dr. Ruffner, its late President.

1734.]

CAPTIVITY OF AN EXPLORER.

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Tradition informs us that the Indians did not object to the Pennsylvanians settling the country. From the exalted character for benevolence and virtue enjoyed by the first founder of that State, (William Penn,) the simple-minded children of the woods believed that all those who had lived under the shadow of his name, partook alike of his justice and humanity. But fatal experience soon taught them a very different lesson. Towards Virginians, the Indians had a most implacable hatred. They called them, by way of distinction, "Long Knives," and "warmly opposed their settling in the Valley."

For twenty years after the settlement about Winchester, the natives, inhabiting the mountains and intervening vales, remained in comparative quietude.

Shortly after the first settlement at Winchester, a circumstance occurred which speedily led to settlements along the upper part of the Valley, and opened to the public mind the fine regions lying west of the Alleghanies. Two resolute spirits, Thomas Morlen and John Salling, full of adventure, determined to explore the "Upper Country," about which so much had been said, but so little was known. Setting out from Winchester, they made their way up the valley of the Shenandoah, crossed the waters of James river, not far from the Natural Bridge, and had progressed as far as the Roanoke, when a party of Cherokees surprised them, and took Salling prisoner. Morlen made his escape, and returned in safety to his friends. Salling was carried captive into Tennessee, and finally habituating himself to the Indians, remained with them several years. While on a hunting excursion with some of his tribe, some years afterwards, they were attacked by a party of Illinois Indians, with whom the Cherokees were at bitter variance, and Salling a second time borne off a prisoner.

These transactions took place in Kentucky, whither the

1 Kercheval, 70.