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CHAPTER VI.


INDIAN WARS, ETC., FROM 1764 TO 1775.

We now rapidly approach the end of Indian troubles in Augusta county. As white population advanced, the savages receded, and the people of Augusta, as it now is, were delivered from danger and alarm. Indeed, none of the massacres, of which we have given an account, occurred within the present limits of the county; but the scenes of disaster being, at the various times mentioned, parts of the county, the incidents could not be omitted in our history. We presume no reader will think we have devoted too much space to the history of these times. The events related were of thrilling interest. The narrative shows what toil and suffering our ancestors endured to obtain homes for themselves, and to transmit a goodly heritage to us. As we now sit under our vine and fig tree, with none to molest or make us afraid, let us devoutly thank God for present peace and safety.

In October, 1764, says Withers, [Border Warfare, pages 72, 73,] about fifty Delaware and Mingo warriors ascended the Great Sandy and came over on New river, where they separated—one party going towards the Roanoke and Catawba (a small stream in Botetourt county), and the other in the direction of Jackson's river, in Alleghany. They were discovered by three white men, who were trapping on New river—Swope, Pack and Pitman—who hastened to give warning, but the Indians were ahead of them, and their effort was in vain. The savages who came to Jackson's river passed down Dunlop's creek, and crossed the former stream above Fort Young. They proceeded down that river to William Carpenter's, where there