xt7ht7279w49 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ht7279w49/data/mets.xml Withers, Alexander Scott, 1831  books b92e81w8118312009 English J. Israel : Clarksburg, Va. Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Indians of North America --Wars --1750-1815. West Virginia --History. Chronicles of border warfare, or, A history of the settlement by the whites, of north-western Virginia: and of the Indian wars and massacres, in that section of the state; with reflections, anecdotes, &c. text Chronicles of border warfare, or, A history of the settlement by the whites, of north-western Virginia: and of the Indian wars and massacres, in that section of the state; with reflections, anecdotes, &c. 1831 2009 true xt7ht7279w49 section xt7ht7279w49 
  
  
  
  
CHRONICLES

OF T H E

SETTLEMENT

BY THE WHITES,

O F N O R T H - W E S T E R N VIRGINIA :'
AND

OF T H E

ismrjLY
Is

WARS AJW

MASSACRES,

T I M T SECTION Q F T H E S t A T E ; WITH

REFLECTIONS,

ANECDOTES,

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B Y A L E X A N D E R S. W I T H E R S .

CtJLRKSDCBG,

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PUBLISHED B Y JOSEPH ISRAEL,

1831

  
A.

A Vesrana D ISTRICT OF Y I B G I C T I . to tail:

B P it remembered, That on the twenty-sixth day of January, in the Fifty-fifth year of tho Independence ul" tho United States of America, J OSEPH I SRAEL, nf the said District, hath deposited in thin Office, the titlo of a Book, the right whereof lie claims as Proprietor, in the words following;, T o wit: " Chronicles of Border Warfare, OT a history of the settlement, by the whites, of North-Western Virginia : and of the Indian wars and massacres, in that section of the State: with reflections, anecdotes, act of Congress of the -United States, entitled " A n act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies _of maps, charts and books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies, durinc the times therein mentioned; and also to an act, entitled " A n act fjr the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof U* the arts of Dcwsnuiig, EugraYing and Etching historical and other prints. ' JASPER Y E A T E S DODDRIDGE. Clerk of tin WtfUm District of riririnla1

he.   By A L E X A N D E R S, W I T H E R S , 1 S 31,"

in conformity to the

  
INTRODUCTION. Chapter I.
TT is highly pronable that the continent of A merica was k nown to the Ancient Carthaginians, and that it was the great island Atalantis, of w hich mention is made by Plato, who represents it as larger than A sia and A frica. T he Carthaginians were a maratime people, and it is known that they extended their discoveries beyond the narrow sphere w hich had hitherto l imited the enterprise of the mariner. And although Plato represents Atalantis as having been swallowed by an earthquake, and all knowledge of the new continent, i f any such ever existed, was entirely lost, s till it is by no means i mprobable, that it had been visited by some of the inhabitants of the o ld worldj prior to its discovery by Columbus in 1492. T h o manner of this discovery is w ell k nown, as is also the fact that A merico V espucci, a F lorentine, under the authority of E m manuel k ing o f Portugal, in sailing as far as B razil discovered the main land ami gave name to A merica. T hese discoveries gave additional excitement to the adventurous spirit w hich distinguished those times, and the flattering reports made of the country w hich they had visited, inspired the different nations of E urope, w ith the desire of reaping the r ich harvest, w hich the enlightened and enterprising m ind o f C olumbus, had unfolded to their v iew. A ccordingly, as ear'y as M arch 1 196, (less than two years alter the discovery by Columbus) a commission was granted by 1< nry V l l k ing 1 o f E ngland, to John Cabot and his three sons, empowering them to sail under the E nglish banner in quest o f new discoveries, and in the event of their success to take possession, i n the name of the k ing o f England, of the countries thus d iscovered and not inhabited.by Christian people. T h e expedition contemplated in this commission was never carried into effect. But in May 1 4 9 8 Cabot w ith his son Sebastian, embarked on a voyage to attain the desired object, and succeedad in his design so far as to efl'cct a. discovery of

  
N orth America,, arid altliough he sailed along the coast from Labrador to     Virgrrfta, yet it does not now appear that he made    ^j4&temr?t  ^itlier at settlement or conquest. T ins i srsaid to have been the first discovery ever made of that portior&of our continent w hich extends from the G ulph o f | M exico to the North pole; and to this discovery the E nglish ] JfW^ce their^t-i|tii; J o that part o f it, subsequently reduced into possession by-ffiem. As many of the evils endured by the inhabitants of the western part o f V irginia, resulted from a contest between England and France, as to the validity o f their respective claims to portions of the newly discovered country, it may not be amiss to take a general view o f the discoveries and settlements effected by each of those powers. After the expedition of Cabot, no attempt on the part o f E ngland, to acquire territory in A merica, seems to have been, made u ntil the year 1558. In thisyear letters patent were issued by Queen Elizabeth, empowering Sir Humphrey G ilbert to "discover and take possession of such remote, heathen and barbarous lands, as were not actually possessed by any christian prince or people." T w o expeditions, conducted by this gentleman terminated unfavorably. Nothing was done by him j towards the accomplishment of the objects in view, more than the taking possession of the island <   !' ?*    ' Midland i n the name of the E nglish Q ueen. In 1584 a similar patent was granted to Sir Walter R aleigh, under whose auspices was discovered the country south of V irginia. In A pril o f that year he dispatched two vessels under the command of Amidas and B arlow, for the purpose of v isiting, and obtaining such a knowledge of the country w hich l ie proposed to colonise, as w ould facilitate the attainment of his object. In their voyage they approached the North A merican continent towards the G ulph o f F lorida, and s ailing northwardly touched at an island situate on the inlet into Pamlico s ound, in the state o f North C arolina. T o this island t heygavethc name of W okoeon, and proceeding from thence reached Roanoke near the mouth of A lbemarle sound. After having remained here some weeks, and obtained from the natives the best information w hich they c ould impart concerning the country, A midas and B arlow returned to England. In the succeeding year Sir Walter had fitted out a squadron o f seven, ships, .the command of w hich he gave to Sir R ichard

  
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G renville. O nboard of this squadron were passengers, arms, ammunition and provisions for a settlement. He touched at the islands of W okocon and R oanoke, w hich had been visited, by A midas and B arlow, and leaving a colony of one hundred and eight persons in the island of Roanoke, he returned to E ngland. T hese colonists, after having remained about twelve months and explored the adjacent country, became so discouraged and exhausted by fatigue and famine, that they abandoned the country. Sir R ichard G renville returning shortly afterwards to A merica, and not being able to find them, and at a loss to conjecture their fate, left in the island another small party o f settlers and again set sail for England. T he flattering description w hich was given of the country, by those w ho had visited it, so pleased Queen Elizabeth, that she gave to it the name of V irginia, as a memorial that it had been discovered in the reign of a V irgin Q ueen. Other inefficient attempts were afterwards made to^olonize N orth A merica d uring the reign of Elizabeth, but it was not ' till the year 1607, that a colony was permanently planted trreTe. ^ n ^ e c e m b E T o f the preceding year a small vessel and two barks, under the command of captain Newport, and having o n board one hundred and five m en, destined to remain, left E ngland. In A pril they were driven by a storm into Chesapeak bay, and after a fruitless attempt to land ai Cape Henry, sailed up the Powhatan (since called James) R iver, and on the 13th o f .May 1607, debarked on the north side ofthe river ataplace to w hich they gave the name of Jamestown. F rom this period the country continued in the occupancy ofthe whites, and remained subject to the crown of Great B ritain u ntil the war o f the revolution. A new charter w hich was issued in 1609 grants to "the treasurer and company of the adventurers, of the city o f L ondon for the first colony of V irginia, i n absolute property the lands extending from Point Comfort along the sea coast two hundred miles to the northward, and from the same point, along the sea coast two hundred miles to the southward, and up into the land throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest; and also all islands l ying w ithin one hundred miles of the coast of both seas o fthe precinct aforesaid." C onflicting charters, granted to other corporations, afterwards narrowed her l imits; that she litis been since reduced to her present comparatively s mall extent of territory, is attributable esclu-.1*

  
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l ively to the almost s uicidal liberality of V irginia herself. O n the part o f France, voyages for the discovery and c olonization o f North A merica were nearly cotemporaneous w ith those made by England for l ike objects. As early as the year 15-10, a commission was issued by Francis 1st for the establishment o f Canada. In 1608, a French fleet, under the command of A dmiral C hamplaine, arrived in the St. Lawrence and founded the city o f Quebec. So successful were her attempts to colonize that province, that, notwithstanding its p roximity to the E nglish colonies, and the fact that a Spanish sailor had previously entered the St. Lawrence and established a port at the mouth of Grand river-   neither of those powers seriously contested the right of France to its possession.    Y et i t was frequently the theatre o f war; and as early as 1629 was subdued by England. By the treaty of St. Germains i n 1632 it was restored to France, as was also the then province o f A cadie, now known as N ova Scotia. There is no doubt but that this latter province was, by priority of settlement, the property o f France, but its principal town having been repeatedly reduced to possession by the E nglish, it was ceded t o them by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. T o the country bordering the Mississippi river, and its tributary streams, a c laim was made by E ngland, F rance and Spain. T h e claims of England (based em the discovery by the Cabots    of the eastern shore o f the U nited States,) i ncluded all the    country between the parallels of latitude w ithin w hich the Atlantic shore was explored, extending westwardly to the P acific ocean   a zone athwart the continent between the thirtieth land forty-eighth degrees o f North latitude. F rom d ie facility with w hich the French gained the good w i l l and friendly alliance ofthe Natives in Canada, by intermarrying w ith, and assimilating themselves to the habits and i nclinations of, these c hildren of the forest, an intimacy arose w hich i nduced the Indians to impart freely to the French their k nowledge of the interior country. A mong other things i n formation was communicated to them, of the fact that farther    on there was ariver of great s ize and immense length, w hich ;pursued a course opposite to that o f the St. Lawrence, and -emptied itself into an unknown sea. It was conjectured that i t must necessarily flow either into the G ulph o f M exico, o r tthe South Sea; and in 1673 Marquette and Joliet, French aiussioiuuics, together w ith five other men, commenced a j our-

  
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ney from Quebec to ascertain the fact and examine the country bordering its shores. F rom lake M ichigan they proceeded up the Fox river nearly to its source; thence to Ouisconsin; down it to the M ississippi, i n w hich river they sailed as far as to about the thirtythird degree o f north latitude. F rom this" point they returned through the I llinois country to Canada. A t the period of this discovery M . de L a Salle) a Frenchman of enterprise, courage and talents but without fortune, was commandant of fort Frontignac. Pleased w ith the description given by Marquette and Johct, of the country w hich they had visited, he formed the determination of examining it himself, and for this purpose left Canada in the close of the summer of 1G79, in company w ith father L ouis H ennepin and some others. On the I llinois he erected fort Crevecteur, where he remained during the winter, and instructing father Henne* p in, i n his absence to ascend the M ississippi to its sources, returned to Canada. M . de L a S alle subsequently visited this country, and establishing the villages o f Cahokia and Kaskaskia, left them under the command of M . de T onti, and going back to Canada, proceeded from thence to France to procure the co-operation ofthe M inistry i n effecting asettlement o fthe valley o f the M ississippi. H e succeded in impressing on the minds of the French M inistry, the great benefits w hich w ould result from its colonization, and was the first to suggest the propriety of connecting the settlements on the M ississippi w ith those i n Canada by a cordon of forts; a measure w hich was subsequently attempted to be carried into effect. W ith the aid afforded him by the government of France, he was enabled to prepare an expedition to accomplish his object, and s ailing i n 10S4 for the mouth of the M ississippi, steered too far westward and landed in the province of Texas, and o n the banks of the river Guadaloupe. E very e xertion w hich a brave and prudent man c ould make to effect the security of his little colony, and conduct them to the settlement in I llinois, was fruitlessly made by him. In reward for all his t oil and care he was basely assassinated; the remnant of the party whom he was conducting through the wilderness, finally reached the Arkansas, where was a settlement of French emigrants from Canada. The colonists left by him at the bay of St. Bernard were mostly murdered by the natives, theremaiuderwere carried away by the Spaniards in 1689.

  
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Other attempts made by the French to c olonize the M ississippi near the G ulph o f M exico, were for some time u navailing, l a an expedition for that purpose, conducted by M . I bberville, a suit of armor on w hich was inscribed Ferdinand de Soto, was found in the possession of some Indians. In the year 1 7 1 7 the spot, oil w hich N e w Orleans now stands, was selected as the centre of the settlements, then first made in L ouisiana, and the country continued in the possession of F rance u ntil 1 7 6 3 . B y the treaty of Paris in that year, she ceded to Great B ritain, together w ith C anada her possessions east o f the M ississippi, excepting only the i sland o f N e w Orleans   this and her territory on the west bank of that river were transferred to Spain. T he title of Spain to the valley o f the M ississippi, i f made to depend on priority o f discovery, w ould perhaps, to say the least, be ns good as that o f either of the other powers. Ferdinand cie Soto, governor of C uba, was most probably the first vfiute man who saw that majestic stream. T he Spaniards had early visited and given name to F lorida. I n 1 5 2 S Pamphilo de Narvaez obtained a grant of it, and fitting out an armament, proceeded w itli four or five h undred men to explore and settle the country. He marched to the Indian village o f Appalachas, when he was attacked and defeated by tire natives. T h e most of those who escaped death from the hands of the savages, perished in a storm, by w hich they were overtaken on their voyage home. Narvaez h imself perished in the wreck, and was succeeded in his attempt at colonization by de Soto. ? F erdinand de Soto, then governor of C uba, was a man of chivalrous and enterprising spirit, and of c ool, deliberate courage. In his expedition to F lorida, although attacked by the Indians, immediately on his landing, yet, rather seeking than shunning danger, he penetrated the interior, and crossing the M ississippi, sickened and d ied on Bed river. So frequent and signal had been the victories w hich he had obtained over the Indians, that his name alone had become an object of terror to them ; and his followers, at once to preserve his remains from v iolation, and prevent the natives from acquiring a knowledge of his death, enclosed his body in a h ollow tree, sunk it in the Red river and returned to F lorujjt *    T hus, it is said, were different parts of this continent discovered ; and by virtue of the settlements thus effected, by

  
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those three great powers of Europe, the greater portion of it was claimed as belonging to them respectively, in utter d isregard ofthe rights ofthe A borigines. A nd w hile the historian records tho colonization of A merica as an event tending to meliorate tho condition of Europe, and as having extended the blessings of c ivil and religious liberty, humanity must drop the tear o f regret, that it has l ikewise forced the natives o fthe new) and the inhabitants of a portion of the old w orld, to drink so deeply from the cup of bitterness. T he cruelties w hich have been exercised on tho A borigines of A merica, the wrong and outrage heaped on them from the days of Montezuma and G uatimozin, to ths present period, w hile they excite sympathy for their sufferings, should extenuate, i f not justify the bloody deeds, w hich revenge prompted tho untutored savages to commit. D riven as they were from the lands of w hich they were the rightful p roprietors^   Yielding to encroachment after encroachment ' till forced to apprehend their utter a nnihilation   Witnesjjiflg the destruction of their Tillages, the prostration of their towns and the sacking of cities adorned w ith s plendid magnificence, w ho can feel surprised at any attempt w hich they might make to rid the country of its . invaders. Who, but must applaud the spirit w hich prompted them, when they beheld their prince a captive, the b lood o f their nobles staining the earth w ith its crimson dye, and the Gods of their adoration scoffed and derided, to aim at the-destruction of their oppressors.       W hen .Mexico, " with her tiara of proud towers," became the theatre i n w hich foreigners were to revel in rapine and i n murder, who can be astonished that the valley o f Otumba resounded w ith the cry of " Victory or Death?" And yet, resistance on their part, served but as a pretext for a war of e xtermination; waged too, with a ferocity, from the r ecollection o f w hich the human m ind i nvoluntarily revolts, and w ith a success w hich has forever blotted from the book o f national existence, once powerful and happy tribes. h ut they did not suffer alone. As if to fill the cup of oppression to the b rim, another portion     o f the human family Were reduced to abject bondage, and made the u nwilling cultivators o f those lands, of w hich the Indians had been dispossessed. Soon after the settlement of N orth A merica was commenced, the negroes of A frica became an article of commerce, and from subsequent importations and natural

  
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increase have become so numerous as to excite the liveliest apprehensions in the bosom of every friend to this country. Heretofore they have had considerable influence on the affairs o f our government; and recently the diversity of interest, occasioned in V irginia, by the possession of large numbers Of them in the country east o f the blue ridge of mountainsj seemed for a w hile to threaten the integrity of the state.       Happily this is now passing away, but how far they may effect the future destinies of A merica, the most prophetic ken cannot foresee. Yet, although the philanthropist must weep over their unfortunate situation, and the patriot shudder in anticipation o f a calamity w hich it may defy human wisdom to avert; s till it w ould be unfair to charge the existence of slavery among us to the p olicy o f the U nited States, or to brand their present owners as the instruments of an e vil w hich they cannot remove. And w hile others boast that they are free from this dark spot, let them remember, that but for them our national escutcheon might have been as pure and u nsullied as their o wn.*     We are. indebted W trieD&fch fir their introduction into V irginia, and to the ships of other than slave holding communities, for their subsequent unhallowed transportation to our shores. Yet those who were mainly instrumental in forging the chains of bondage, havesince rendered the condition of the negro slave more intolerable hy fomenting discontent among them, and bv ">c:\1tcrin has formed the o pinion that it was peopled by several different nations. J ohn de Laet, a F lemish w riter, maintains that A merica received its first inhabitants from Scythia or Tartary, and soon after the dispersion of Noah's grand-sons. The resemblance o f the northern Indians, in feature, complexion and manner o f l iving, to the Scythians. Tartars, and Samojcdes, being greater than to any other nations. E manuel de M oraez, i n his history of B razil, says that this continent was w holly peopled by the Carthaginians and Israelites. -In confirmation of this o pinion, l ie mentions the I discoveries w hich the Carthaginians are known to have made beyond the coast of A frica: T he progress of these discoveries being stopped by the Senate of Carthage, those who happened to be in the newly discovered countries,- cut off from a ll communication w ith their countrymen, and being destitute of many of the necessaries of l ife, easily fell i nto a state o f barbarism. George de H uron, a D utch writer on this subject, considering the short .space of time w hich elapsed between the creation of the w orld and the deluge, maintains that A merica c ould not have been peopled before the flood. H e l ikewise supposes that its first inhabitants were located in the north; and that the primitive colonies extended themselves over the w hole extent of the continent, by means of the Isthmus of Panama. " It is his opinion that the first founders of these I ndian colonies were Scythians; that the Phcenicians and C arthaginians subsequently got to A merica across the A tlantic, and the Chinese across the Pacific ocean, and that other nations might have landed thereby one of these means, or been thrown on the coast by tempest: since through the whole extent of the continent, both in its northern and southern parts there are evident marks of a mixture ofthe northern nations W'ith (hose who have comp from other places,

  
H e also supposes that another migration ofthe Phcciiiciai;.-; \ook place during a three years voyage made by the' jEyrian ileet i n the service of k ing S olomon. He asserts, on the authority o f J'osephus, that the port at w hich this embarkation was made, lay in the Mediterranean. The fleet, he adds, went i n quest o f Elephants' teeth and Peacocks, to tho western' coast of Africa, w hich is Tarshish, then for g old to Ophir, w hich is Haite or the Island of Hispaniola. In the latter opinion he is supported by Columbus, who, when he discovered that Island, thought lie c ould trace the furnaces in w hich the gold had been refined. M onsieur C harlevoix, who travelled through North A merica-, is of opinion that it received its first inhabitants from Tarlary and H yrconia, I n support of this impression he says that, some of the animals w hich are to be found here, must h