Andrew Lewis' Sandy Creek Expedition Burkes Garden
February 24 Sandy Creek Expedition Burkes Garden
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The Journal
We are still following the journal kept by Capt William Preston’s journal of the Sandy Creek Expedition
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Burkes Garden
demands attention.
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It sure got the attention of this Sandy Creek Expedition.
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And it got our attention.
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See what this group
hiked up the mountain
and down into?
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What is this place?
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Compiled by Jim Moyer first in 2016, updated 2/9/2020, 2/15/2020
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TazExit
And Tues Feb 5 2020 it attracts the attention of West Virginia who invited the modern county of Tazewell in which Burkes Garden sits to secede Virginia and to join West Virginia.
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Trail
The modern Appalachian Trail marches on the south and east rim.
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Hitler
In 1940, Hitler was truly a Bear.
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Hanging on the wall is the skin of an adult black bear nicknamed Old Hitler. This bear was about 30 years old and weighed almost 600 lbs. when it was killed. He terrorized the livestock of Burke’s Garden, Virginia, killing hogs, cows, and sheep during the 1940s, at the same time as World War II. The residents of Burke’s Garden named him “Old Hitler” after Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, who was ruling over Europe just as Old Hitler was ruling over Burke’s Garden.
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Source
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How Burkes Garden Formed
6500 foot Mountain collapsed.
But now the rim is high as 3500 to 4000 feet roughly, with the basin 3200 feet.
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“Geologists get the last word, and they’ve apparently said, according to Tazewell historian and author Louise Leslie, that this bowl was once a 6,500-foot-high mountain largely composed of limestone, but with a sandstone cap. Slowly, that sandstone cap eroded, and the peak of Garden Mountain collapsed into itself. That’s the “common wisdom,” says Whitted. “And the limestone shifts all the time, so that’s a pretty believable story.””
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Source
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But back to Burkes Garden and the Sandy Creek Expedition
Major Andrew Lewis
was picked by Lt Gov Dinwiddie to lead this expedition.
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Colonel George Washington thought it would fail.
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And it did fail.
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Short term positive benefit?
The Virginia Regiment formed a personal connection to the Cherokee and other first nations accompanying them.
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That didn’t last long.
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Jacob Dean, front and center, can tell a story. If ever you see him, introduce yourself. I always learn something new when he speaks. There’s also something of a warm spirit, but don’t let that box him in. This is an Independent Indian. Here he is with the Virginia Regiment George Mercer Company at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
By 1757 the promises on presents were not kept at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
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By 1758, on their way back home, the Cherokee fulfilled their promise they warned at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
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They would take a few horses.
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As they went back home they did take horses.
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They also travelled unaccompanied by White escort.
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Then it got really bad.
The White settlers went after them. Retribution follows retribution, until erupts the full blown Anglo Cherokee War.
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Profanity
Even during the 1756 Sandy Creek Expedition, the Cherokee just couldn’t stand how the Whites whipped one of their own for profanity. See Feb 20, 1756 journal entry.
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And the hunting?
No game found when they hit the Clinton River Valley after leaving Burkes Garden. See journal entry Thursday 26 FEB 1756.
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The Journal
From Capt William Preston’s journal of the Sandy Creek Expedition –
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Tazewell County is the modern county that was once of Orange Co 1735 and then of Augusta Co 1738 as were many counties. See changing historical country maps. Tazewell County is to have open discussion about exiting Virginia an joining WV Tuesday, February 4th 2020.
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Sunday 15 FEB 1756
James Burk (of Burke’s Garden) brot word that Robert Looney was killed nigh Alex Sawyers, and he had himself one horse shot and five taken away by the Shawnee Indians.
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Note on Robert Looney:
See 20 Feb 1756 diary entry where Lieutenant Ingles informed the expedition 5 days later of Robert Looney’s burial.
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Note – story on James Burke (bottom of page 30):
Burke moved with his family into the Garden in 1754,
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More on this sign, see link. Touch or click to Enlarge.
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Potatoes
cleared up some land, and planted a crop, including potatoes, and in the fall of 1755 was driven out on account of fear of Indians, and left his crop of potatoes in the ground which Lewis’ men found the next spring and appropriated.
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See the Tuesday Feb 24, 1756 entry on Captain Preston’s Journal.
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Tanned Hides
Burke had killed a large number of deer, elk and bear, and had tanned a number of the hides, which he took with him when he left in the fall of 1755. On his way out with his family he camped one night in an old hunter’s cabin near what is now Sharon Springs in the now County of Bland, Virginia.
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Indian Attack
The Indians followed him, and on their way killed two hunters in their camp. On approaching Burke’s cabin and seeing several horses, and the tanned hides rolled up in the cabin, they came to the conclusion that there were too many people for them to attack, and contented themselves with the cutting of the throat of one of Burke’s horses.
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Burke was not killed in the Garden
One of the evidences adduced that Burke had removed with his family to this Garden, and lived there in 1755, is, that no mention of him or of his family is made in the history of the destruction of the Drapers Meadows settlers by the Indians on the 8th day of July, 1755, while all the other settlers are accounted for.
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Burke was not killed in the Garden. He was living and seen by Captain Preston and his men on the 15th day of February, 1756, when he reported to Major Lewis the killing by the Indians of a man by the name of Robert Looney near Alexander Sawyer’s.
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Another link to see on this historical marker. This is the hmdb (historical marker data base) website.
Burke never went back
Burke with his family never returned to the Garden to live, first, because the Loyal Company claimed the land and had Ingles and Patton to survey it. Second, Burke got not one foot of it, and, third; he removed South where he died.
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Descendants, relatives
Many of his descendants, among them the Snidows, of Giles County, still reside in the New River Valley, and they seem never to have heard of the story that Burke was killed in the Garden. Again Morris Griffith, the step son of Burke, who is reputed to have first seen the Garden, was captured at Vaux’s Fort in the Summer of 1756, but escaped.
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Source:
bottom of page 30, A history of middle New River settlements and contiguous territory by Johnston, David E. (David Emmons), 1845-1917 Publication date 1906, Publisher Huntington, W. Va. : Standard Ptg. & Pub. Co.
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Link:
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More on James Burke.
“Ctrl F ” to find all references to Burke:
History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 by Pendleton, William C. (William Cecil), 1847-1941 Publication date 1920 Publisher Richmond, Va., W. C. Hill printing company
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Monday 16 FEB 1756
40 Indians and 60 white men under command of Capt. Smith and Woodston marched from fort in order to range the woods about Reed Creek; they are to march to Burke’s Garden.
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Burke Garden. Bottom of Picture is North. Left Side is East.
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Tuesday 17 FEB 1756
Mr. Paul returned from the horse guard (This guard had been left to protect the crossing of New River.)
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Wednesday 18 FEB 1756
Capt. Hog’s company and Major Lewis march in afternoon.
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Tazewell County. Back in 1756 it was part of August Country 1738 created out of Orange Co 1735.
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Thursday 19 FEB 1756
Left Fort Frederick (AT Dunkard’s Bottom – now Claytor Lake south of Radford VA) at 10 o’clock: 27 loaded pack horses, got to William Sawyer’s: Camped on his barn floor.
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See Map of Fort Frederick location on Claytor Lake.
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Friday 20 FEB 1756
Switched one of the soldiers for swearing, which very much incensed the Indian chiefs then present. Advanced to Alex Sawyers, met the Indians who went out with the first division, and Lieutenant Ingles who informed us of the burial of Robt. Looney. Some of our Indians deserted…
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Note: Page 25 is this entry.
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Sat. 21 FEB 1756
Major Lewis, Capt. Pearis and the interpreter went to Col. Buchanan’s place, where they met the Indians who had deserted us, and induced them to return, which they did…
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Sunday 22 FEB 1756
Marched to John McFarland’s.
See location on map.
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John McFarland
(1): born 1706-1708 in Ireland. Married ca. 1728 in Lancaster Co. Penn. to Mary Montgomery (by tradition, no record known). Mary was born in 1712, daughter of John Montgomery (tradition).They moved to Virginia around 1747 to Augusta County to land on Reed Creek which is now near present-day Wytheville. Grandson’s historical sign in Tennessee mentions this John McFarland patriarch
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Source:
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Monday 23 FEB 1756
Marched over the mountain to Bear Garden , on North Fork of Holston’s river. Lost sundry horses .
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See topo map of where they might have crossed the North Fork Holton River.
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Arriving at Burkes Garden
Burkes Garden
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Finally the majority of the expeditionary force arrives at Burke’s Garden
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Tuesday 24 FEB 1756
Crossed two mountains and arrived at Burke’s Garden. Had plenty of potatoes which the soldiers gathered in the deserted plantations .
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Wednesday 25 FEB 1756
Remained in Camp.”Burke’s Garden is a tract of land of 5000 or 6000 acres, as rich and fertile as any I ever saw, as well watered with many beautiful streams, and is surrounded with mountains almost impassible.
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Clinch River.
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Thursday 26 FEB 1756
Marched early,
crossed three large mountains,
arrived at head of Clinch.
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Our hunters found no game.
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See topo map of
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This South Fork Clinton River becomes the main Clinch River flowing south into today’s state of Tennessee, ending at South West Point where a Fort Loudoun (one of 3 forts named Fort Loudoun) was built to satisfy a treaty with the Cherokee.
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Source:
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There’s more to this journal and to the story. We just wanted to pick this one area they saw to highlight.
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Some Links
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Sandy Creek Expedition Begins
All the troops are gathered at this point.
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Brief overview –
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Excellent trace map of the expedition.
Shows the route in West Virginia area only:
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Captain William Preston tells the story as written down by him at the time. .
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the following seems to be a partial reprint of Preston’s journal
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Reenactors retracing trek
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18 February -13 March 1756
The Officers involved
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After her return from captivity, in November of 1755, Mary Ingles provided her husband, CPT William Ingles, with intelligence about Shawnee villages along the Ohio.
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In December of 1755,
approached Lt Governor Dinwiddie about conducting a raid against two of these villages near present day Portsmouth, OH.
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was designated to lead the expedition of approximately 200-300 men from the Virginia Regiment and Militia Rangers along with approximately 80-130 Cherokees.
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was ordered to provide and lead forty men from his Company.
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A draft of sixty men from Captain William Preston’s and Captain John Smith’s Company, to be commanded by Captain Smith was ordered to participate.
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Captain Overton and Captain Obadiah Woodson were to provide forty men each and serve as Company Commanders.
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Captain Pearis commanded the Cherokees.
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Captain Robert Breckinridge, was ordered to take his companies as well.
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Captain’s Archibald Alexander, John Montgomery and Dunlap commanded volunteer companies of indeterminate size.
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Captain David Stuart served as commissary.
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the instigator if not, perhaps, the planner of the mission, joined the expedition as well.
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The main body of the expedition departed Fort Frederick (vicinity Salem, VA) on 18 February 1756.
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The expedition with the exception of CPT Hogg’s men who were behind the main body, reached the north Fork of the Holston River by 23 February.
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By 26 February the expedition was at the head of the Clinch River and at the head of Sandy Creek by the 28th which they followed towards the Ohio River until desertion and insubordination caused the expedition to turn around on 13 March.
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NOTES
for followup
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How Burkes Garden Formed
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Geologists get the last word, and they’ve apparently said, according to Tazewell historian and author Louise Leslie, that this bowl was once a 6,500-foot-high mountain largely composed of limestone, but with a sandstone cap. Slowly, that sandstone cap eroded, and the peak of Garden Mountain collapsed into itself. That’s the “common wisdom,” says Whitted. “And the limestone shifts all the time, so that’s a pretty believable story.”
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Source
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Old Hitler in Burkes Garden
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White-haired Marvin Meek recalls tales of Tazewell County and how the residents of his unincorporated hometown banded together in 1940, at the onset of World War II, to stop a sheep-killing bear they called “Old Hitler” because he was so beastly.
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burkes garden
alec meeks wife–berty, was my mothers sister!!! i remember jack, tom and lillian!!!, I spent many a day there on the old home place and when I was only four years old I pulled the tongue out of OLD HITLER, who was laying inside on a couch!!!, and there was a stone house down below the smokehouse, where uncle alex kept an animal!!! and I wandered there, and said daddy, come see the doggy!!! well guess what ?? it was not a dog, it was a bear!!!
john M johnston more than 7 years ago
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Source
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4. The two most notorious animals in The Garden’s history are “Old Hitler,” a 500-pound black bear that killed dozens of cattle and sheep in the 1940s, and “The Varmint,” a coyote that terrorized the community in 1952, killing more than 400 sheep. Big-game hunters were brought in from Arizona to track and kill “The Varmint,” so named because local residents didn’t know what they were dealing with at first, coyotes having been absent from the valley for many years. The remains of both infamous creatures reside these days at the Crab Orchard Museum & Pioneer Park in Tazewell.
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Picture of the skinned 500 lb Bear at that museum
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Hanging on the wall is the skin of an adult black bear nicknamed Old Hitler. This bear was about 30 years old and weighed almost 600 lbs. when it was killed. He terrorized the livestock of Burke’s Garden, Virginia, killing hogs, cows, and sheep during the 1940s, at the same time as World War II. The residents of Burke’s Garden named him “Old Hitler” after Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, who was ruling over Europe just as Old Hitler was ruling over Burke’s Garden.
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Source
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The Coyote
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The one animal not native to our region is the western coyote. In the early 1950s, this particular coyote was purchased by a man who lived on Jewell Ridge and brought from the Western United States to train his dogs. He bought two coyote puppies, but they both escaped. One was hit and killed by a car, and this one made its way to Burke’s Garden. Over 11 months, this coyote killed 410 sheep, valued at $23,000 in 1953 – the equivalent of almost $210,000 in modern money. The coyote became known as “The Varmint” because coyotes were unknown then to Southwestern Virginia and no one knew what sort of creature was killing the sheep. After many months of trying to catch the Varmint, a professional hunter named Clell Lee was brought in from Arizona along with his dogs, Lightning Lee, Gypsy, Runt, and Freckles, to track and drive the animal. Lee was paid $2,500 plus expenses to come to Burke’s Garden, but there was no guarantee for success. On February 22nd, 1953 Lee and his dogs drove the Varmint into the Brown Family graveyard where it was shot and killed by Alfred Jones & Hugh E. Cox, both of Tazewell County. The outlaw was strung up in the middle of Burke’s Garden and hundreds drove in to see the mysterious predator. A cast of his teeth was verified by a veterinarian and only then was it confirmed that the terror of Burke’s Garden was a western coyote. The arrival of the Varmint changed farming in the region, with several farmers either adding fencing and guard animals or giving up sheep farming altogether.
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Source
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In the summer of 1755, just about the time of the attack upon
Draper's Meadows, a scalping party of Shawnees made an incursion
into the Middle Holston Valley. They attacked the more exposed
settlements, killed several settlers and captured others. Captain
Samuel Stalnaker, who then had his cabin home some four or five
miles west of the present town of Marion, Smyth County, Virginia,
was made a captive, and Mrs. Stalnaker and Adam Stalnaker were
killed. The presumption is that they were the wife and son of
Samuel Stalnaker. He was the man whose house Dr. Walker and
party helped to "raise" in March, 1750, while they were en route
to Cumberland Gap and Kentucky. Stalnaker and the other pris-
oners were taken through or across the Clinch Valley by the Indians
on their return to their towns in Ohio. This is evidenced by the
journal of Colonel William Preston who commanded a company in
the expedition of Colonel Andrew Lewis, known in history as the
"Sandy Expedition," and which was made in the months of February
and March, 1756. While traveling down the stream that Colonel
Preston called "Sandy Creek," on Sundy the 29th of February,
1756, he noted in his journal: "This creek has been much fre-
quented by Indians both traveling and hunting on it, and from late
signs I am apprehensive that Stalnaker and the prisoners taken with
him were carried this way." Captain Stalnaker made his escape
from the Indians, but when, where, or how is not recorded in any
history, nor is there any record showing what was the fate of the
other prisoners.
There were a number of persons killed, wounded, and captured
on New River and Reed Creek by the Shawnees who persisted in
sending scalping parties to those sections in the summer and fall
of 1755, and in February and March 1756. It was to avenge the
outrages inflicted upon the settlers in the New River and Holston
valleys, as well as the massacre at Draper's Meadows, that the
"Sandy Expedition" was projected. The purpose of this expedi-
tion was to march to the Ohio River and punish the Shawnees, by
killing as many of them as possible, and to destroy their towns.
Colonel Andrew Lewis was commander of the expedition, and
his forces consisted of about four hundred men, including one bun-
and Southwest Virginia 219
dred, or more, Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians, who had been
induced to become allies of the Virginians in the French and Indian
War. This small army was composed of Augusta County militia
and four companies of volunteers. The several military companies
were commanded by Captains Peter Hogg, William Preston, John
Smith, Samuel Overton, and Obediah Woodson ; and the four volun-
teer companies were under the command of Captains Robert Breck-
enridge, Archibald Alexander, John Montgomery, and Dunlap.
The Indians had been recruited by Captain Richard Pearis and
were commanded by him.
This expedition was assembled at Fort Prince George, after-
wards called Fort Lewis, four miles west of where Salem, Roanoke
County, is now located. Captain William Preston was placed in
charge of the vanguard, and began the march on "Monday ye, 9th
day of February, 1756;" and in his journal says:
"In persuance to ye orders of Major Lewis, dated the 9th inst.,
I marched from Fort Prince George, with my two Lieutenants, 2
Sergeants, 3 Corporals, and 25 Privates." On Wednesday, the 1 1th,
they arrived at New River, at Ingles' Ferry, where they found the
Indian allies in camp; and Captain Preston says: "As we marched
by the Cherokee Camp we saluted them by firing off guns, which
they returned in seeming great joy and afterwards honored us with
a war dance."
Major Lewis with the main body of his white force, arrived at
New River and reviewed all the troops on Friday, the 13th; and on
Saturday, the 14th, Captain Dunlap joined them with a company
of twenty-five volunteers. This completed the military force that
was encamped at Fort Frederick, which was the name then held
by the fort at Dunkard's Bottom. On Sunday, the 15th inst., James
Burke, who had fled from Burke's Garden, arrived at the camp and
gave information that Robert Looney had been killed by the Shaw-
nee Indians near the home of Alex Sawyers, on Reed Creek.
The expedition had been organized to go to Ohio to look for
the Shawnees and destroy their towns; but Major Lewis and his
little army were about to come in contact with small bands of these
Indians at a point only some sixty miles distant from Fort Prince
George, the starting place, and right in the settlements on Reed
Creek. As a matter of precaution, on Monday, the 16th, forty
Indians and sixty white men were sent out to range the woods about
Reed Creek; and on Thursday, the 19th, the army broke camp and
220 History of Tazewell County
started on its perilous and disastrous journey. As this was the first
military expedition of white men that entered and passed over the
territory now embraced in Tazewell County, it is an event of special
interest in connection with the history of the county. Therefore, I
will reproduce that part of Captain Preston's journal which shows
the route pursued and what transpired while Lewis and his men
were marching through this particular region. The following are
the entries made by Captain Preston.
"Thursday 19, Left Fort Frederick at 10 o'clock: 27 loaded
pack horses, got to William Sawyers: camped on his barn floor.
"Friday 20, Switched one of the soldiers for swearing, which
very much incensed the Indian chiefs then present. Advanced to
Alex Sawyers, met the Indians who went out with the first division,
and Lieutenant Ingles, who informed us of the burial of Robert
Looney. Some of our Indians deserted.
"Sat. 21, Major Lewis, Capt. Pearis and the interpreter went to
Col. Buchanan's place (Anchor and Hope), where they met the
Indians who had deserted us, and induced them to return, which
they did.
"Sunday, 22, marched to John McFarlands." (McFarland lived
in Black Lick on the head of Reed Creek.)
"Monday, 23, marched over the mountain to Bear Garden, on
North Fork of Holston's river. Lost sundry horses.
"Tuesday 24, Crossed two mountains and arrived at Burkes
Garden. Had plenty of potatoes, which the soldiers gathered in
the deserted plantations.
"Wednesday 25, Remained in Camp.
"Burke's Garden is a tract of land of 5,000 or 6,000 acres as
rich and fertile as any I ever saw, as well watered with many
beautiful streams and is surrounded with mountains almost impas-
sible.
"Thursday 26, Marched early, crossed three large mountains,
arrived at head of Clinch. Our hunters found no game.
"Friday 27, Lay by on account of rain. Hunters killed three
or four bears.
"Saturday 28, passed several branches of Clinch and at length
got to the head of Sandy Creek where we met with great trouble and
fatigue, occasioned by heavy rain, and driving our baggage horses
down said creek, which we crossed 20 times that evening. Killed
three buffaloes and some deer.
and Southwest Virginia 221
There were no settlers in the territory which now constitutes
Tazewell County when the Sandy Expedition passed through
Burke's Garden and the Clinch Valley. If James Burke had formed
an intention to become a permanent settler, he abandoned such
intention when he fled from the Indians, never to enter Burke's
Garden again as a resident.
I am at a loss to understand what Captain William Preston
meant by the entry made in his journal on the 24th of February,
1756, stating that they: "Had plenty of potatoes which the soldiers
gathered in the deserted plantations." This entry would justify
the conclusion that there was more cleared and cultivated land there
at that time than tradition has placed to the account of James Burke's
industry. It might also warrant the belief that other persons had
been living there besides Burke. The plantations, however, men-
tioned by Captain Preston may have been what the first settlers
called "patches."
Another very peculiar entry in the Preston journal is one which
tells that when the expedition left Burke's Garden it crossed three
movmtains to reach the head of Clinch River. If this statement is
corre(;t, tlie army did not make its exit through the gap at the west
end of the Garden. In the mountain wliich encircles the Garden
there is a low place between the gap and the Bear Town peak.
Colonel Lewis evidently took his men through this low place over
to Little Creek, then crossed Rich Mountain to a point just west of
the divide between Clear Fork and the Clinch Valley. Not being
familiar with the country, instead of turning westward, down the
valley, the expedition crossed Buckhorn Mountain and came into
the valley just west of Dial Rock. Thence the march was con-
tinued until the head of "Sandy Creek" was reached.
I>ocal historians have expressed different views as to which
branch of the stream was reached and followed. This, Tiowever,
is unimportant, as Tug River was the main stream followed, and
received its name from an incident which occurred during the jour--
ney. At one time the provisions were so completely exhausted that
the men were threatened with starvation. Johnston, in his History
of the New River Settlements, thus relates what occurred: "The
weather was extremely cold, snow having fallen the march was a
difficult one, and the men stopping at Burning Spring (Warfield)
took strips of the hides of the buffaloes and broiled them in the
burning gas. They cut them into strips or thugs, hence the name of
Tug River. On leaving the spring they scattered through the
222 History of Tazewell County
mountains and many of them perished, either frozen to death,
starved, or killed by the Indians. They left, however, some marks
by the way, cutting their names on trees on the route pursued by
them, notably at the forks of Big Coal and Clear Fork of that
river, but these trees have been destroyed in recent years."
The remnant of the little army was then returning from its
unsuccessful and disastrous expedition. It did not get as far as the
mouth of Sandy River, the point where it was expected to reach the
Ohio. On the 12th of March the men were so discouraged that they
began to desert; and on the 13th Montgomery's and Dunlap's volun-
teers left with a view of getting back to their homes, if they could.
It is probable that it was then that the return march was begun.
Colonel George Washington was ill command of all the Virginia
military forces in 1756, with his headquarters at Winchester, as
previously related, and he vigorously opposed the Sandy Expedition.
He knew the wild and rugged character of the region through which
Lewis and his men had to travel, and was confident the enterprise
would prove unsuccessful, especially as it was undertaken in the
winter season. Governor Dinwiddie was so provoked at the Shaw-
nees for their repeated savage attacks upon the frontier settlements
that he insisted that the expedition should go forward, and upon
him rested the responsibility for its failure.
The failure of the Sandy Expedition was not only a seriously
alarming blow to the English settlements west of New River, but
was a great incentive to the Shawnees and the other hostile tribes in
Ohio to continue their savage attacks upon the border settlements,
extending from the Holston Valley to the Potomac River. These
incursions of the Indians were encouraged and supported by the
French, who were then engaged in a general war with Great Britain,
and were vigorously prosecuting the French and Indian War against
the English colonies in America. The French were not only furnish-
ing the Indians with arms, ammunition, and other supplies, but
were paying them liberally for the scalps of tlie English settlers,
and also for the prisoners they captured. These conditions con-
tinued until the close of the French and Indian War in 1761, and
the Pontiac War in 1763; and resulted in driving out nearly all
the settlers who had located west of New River. Colonel William
Preston, who, after the death of liis uncle. Colonel James Patton,
became the guiding spirit of the Trans-Alleghany Pioneers, in a
letter written from his home at Greenfield, in the present Botetourt
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and Southwest Virginia 223
County, on the 27th of July, 1763, thus related the unhappy condi-
tion of the settlements along and west of New River :
"Our situation at present is very different from what it was
when we had the pleasure of your company in this country. All
the valleys of Roanoke river and along the waters of the Mississippi
are depopulated, except Captain English (Ingles) with a few
families on New river, who have built a fort, among whom are Mr.
Thompson and his family, alone remaining. They intend to make
a stand until some assistance be sent them. Seventy-five of the
Bedford militia went out in order to pursue the enemy, but I hear
the officers and part of the men are gone home, and the rest gone
to Reed Creek to help in the family of James Davis and in two or
three other families there that dare not venture to travel.
"I have built a little fort in which are eighty-seven persons,
twenty of whom bear arms. We are in a pretty good posture of
defence, and with the aid of God are determined to make a stand.
In five or six other places in this part of the country they have
fallen into the same method and with the same resolution. How
long we may keep them is uncertain. No enemy have appeared here
as yet. Their guns are frequently heard and their footing observed,
which makes us believe they will pay us a visit. My two sisters and
their families are here and all in good health. We bear our misfor-
tunes so far with fortitude and are in hopes of being relieved."
224 History of Tazewell County
CHAPTER VI.
WHY SETTLEMENTS DELAYED IN CLINCH VALLEY.
No settlers came to the Clinch Valley until nearly twenty years
after surveying parties had come in and located tracts of land here.
John Buchanan, deputy surveyor of Augusta County, had made
surveys on the waters of Clinch River, in 1750; and Colonel Patton
and William Ingles had surveyed a number of boundaries in Burke's
Garden, Abb's Valley, and on the headwaters of Clinch River in
1753. The inquiry has frequently been made why the settlements
were so delayed in the Clinch Valley, especially as a number of
persons had located with their families on New River and its tribu-
taries, and even in the Holston Valley, as early as 1750.
When Dr. Thomas Walker made his famous expedition to Cum-
berland Gap in 1750, he found settlers scattered along the route
he pursued from the "Great Lick," the site of Roanoke City, to the
present Seven Mile Ford, on the Middle Fork of Holston River.
These settlers, when they came in, had followed the Buffalo Trail,
which the Cherokees had been using for years in making their hunt-
ing excursions that were extended as far east as the Great Lick,
and even to the Peaks of Otter. It was also the same trail that the
traders from Eastern Virginia had traveled when they went on
trading expeditions to the Cherokee towns in Tennessee, then North
Carolina. The Clinch Valley was then used by the Indians, the
Cherokees and the Shawnees, as a hunting ground; and had never
been entered by white men, except a few hunting parties, who were,
possibly, as anxious to preserve it for a game park as were the
Indians.
But for certain causes, which I will mention, settlements would
have been made in what is now Tazewell County immediately fol-
lowing the surveying of land here by the Loyal Company, of which
company. Dr. Thomas Walker was the active agent. This company
had, by an order of the Virginia Council, obtained leave to take up
and survey 800,000 acres of land, in one or more surveys, to be
located on the north of the North Carolina line, and running west-
ward and northward for quantity; and the company was given four
years to complete its surveys and purchase riglits for the same.
The company began its work of surveying in 1750, and sold a num-
ber of tracts west of New River, to purchasers at the rate of three
and Southwest Virginia 225
pounds per hundred acres. Some of the purchasers settled on the
lands they bought, while others failed to make settlements. The
Loyal ComiDany was then interrupted by caveats entered by the
Ohio Company and other conflicting claimants, which prevented the
completion of the surveying within the term of four years pre-
scribed by the order of council. An application was made for a
renewal of the grant and on the 14th of June, 1753, an order was
made by the council, giving the company four years more to comr
plete the surveys. By this last order the lands granted are described
as lands lying on the branches of the Mississippi in the county of
Augusta. The company began as soon as possible to locate and
sell lands under the renewed grant, but the P'rench and Indian War
then came on in 1754, and put an end to the surveying. The
Indians commenced their hostile incursions into the settlements west
of the Alleghanies; and this not only prevented, for a period of
nine years, the making of any settlements in the Clinch Valley,
but drove out nearly all the settlers in the New River and Holston
valleys.
The Greenbrier Company, organized by Andrew Lewis and
other prominent Virginians, obtained a grant from the Virginia
Council for 100,000 acres of land, which was to be located west of
the Alleghanies, and south of the Ohio. The execution of the sur-
veying of this company had also been hindered by the same causes
that had affected the Loyal Company. As soon as the war was
terminated these two companies presented a joint petition to the
governor and council, representing that they had made a number of
actual surveys of lands within their respective grants and made sales
of tracts to divers persons. The petition also set forth the fact that
the companies had been prevented from completing their surveys and
making settlements thereon only by the war; and pi'aying the
renewal of their grants for another four years.
In the meantime King George II. had sent instructions to the
colonial government to make no more grants upon the western
waters. P'ollowing this instruction, the governor and council, on the
25th of May, 1763, declared that they were restrained by the royal
instructions from granting the prayer of the two companies. On
the 7th of October, 1763, the king issued a proclamation prohibit-
ing all persons from settling in that tract of country west of the
Alleghanies, which included the territory west of New River; and
the proclamation of the king even required those persons who had
settled in this region under patents to remove therefrom and take
T.H.— 15
226 History of Tazewell County
up their residence in the interior. This course was adopted by the
royal government to pacify the Indians^ who, after the French and
Indian War was terminated, remained bitterly hostile to the Eng-
lish, because of their manifest purpose to rob the natives of their
lands and hunting grounds.
The proclamation of the king not only destroyed every possible
hope that the Loyal Company could ever again secure from the
royal government a renewal of its grants, but, seemingly, invali-
dated the titles to all the lands it had sold to settlers or prospec-
tive settlers. This latter conclusion was based upon the conviction
that the Virginia Council had made a grant to the Loyal Company
of lands that did not belong to the English Crown, but were still
owned by the Indians. And the order of the king for the removal of
all persons who had settled in the forbidden territory placed another
obstruction to the settlement of the Clinch Valley which lasted for
a period of years.
The Iroquois, or Six Nations, of New York, who had been allies
of the British in the war just closed, claimed by right of conquest
all the Virginia territory west of the Blue Ridge and south of the
Ohio River; and the Cherokees, who were also allies of the British
in the war, demanded the withdrawal of all the white settlers from
the territory west of New River and south of the Ohio. These
demands were recognized by the British Government as just; but
gave great concern to the Loyal Company and all persons to whom
the company had sold lands west of New River, either for homes
or speculative purposes. And the company and its vendees went
earnestly to work to secure relief by the negotiation of treaties with
the two Indian nations. Quite a number of would-be settlers had
congregated in the Upper James River Valley and the Roanoke
Valley, eagerly awaiting opportunity to move beyond New River.
In response to their appeals, and through the very effective work of
Dr. Walker and other members of the Loyal Company, treaties were
made with the Indians by which the section west of New River was
opened up for settlement.
In the spring of 17(58 the British Government instructed Sir
William Johnson, of New York, to negotiate a treaty with the Six
Nations, and procure from them the relinquishment of their asserted
claim of certain territory in the provinces of New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Virginia. He called a congress of the chiefs of
the Iroquois Confederacy, which assembled at Fort Stanwix, near
Oswego, New York, on the 24th of October, 1768; and four days
and Southwest Virginia 227
thereafter, on the 28th of the same month, a treaty was concluded.
Dr. Thomas Walker was present, as commissioner from Virginia,
and witnessed the signing of the treaty by the six representative
chiefs of the Indian confederacy. No doubt the skillful management
of the accomplished agent of the Loyal Company had much to do
with securing the desired treaty with the Indians. The treaty con-
veyed to King George Third, Sovereign Lord of Great Britain,
France and Ireland, all the Virginia territory claimed by the Iro-
quois, south of the Ohio River, beginning at the mouth of the
Cherokee (Holston) River, where it empties into the River Ohio,
and following along the southern side of said River to Kittanning,
which is above Fort Pitt. This eliminated for all time the claim of
ownership of Virginia territory by the Iroquois.
The British Government had also directed John Stuart, Southern
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, to negotiate a treaty with the
Cherokees. He met the chiefs of the Upper and Lower Cherokee
Nations at Hard Labor, South Carolina, and negotiated a treaty
with these Indians on the 14th of October, 1768, just two weeks
before the treaty at Fort Stanwix was concluded. This treaty was
entirely unsatisfactory, as it failed to secure the very purpose for
which it was sought. It left in the possession of the Cherokees all
the territory they claimed west of New River, which they had held
for many years as their most cherished hunting grounds, the Clinch
and the Holston valleys particularly.
Dr. Walker had been appointed commissioner from Virginia to
be present when the treaty was made with the Cherokees, but did
not attend the meeting. No reasonable explanation was ever given by
John Stuart for the negotiation of a treaty whose terms were the
very opposite of those sought and intended by the government he
represented. Lord Botetourt was then governor of Virginia, and
he was induced to appoint Colonel Andrew Lewis and Dr. Thomas
Walker commissioners to visit the Cherokees and procure from them
another treaty on the desired lines. They proceeded promptly to
South Carolina, where they had conferences with some of the Chero-
kee chiefs, and obtained from them a pledge that the settlers west
of New River should not be disturbed in the possession of their
homes, pending the negotiations for rearranging the boundary lines
of the hunting grounds of the tribe. It was also arranged by the
commissioners that a new treaty should be made with the Indians.
John Stuart, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, met the principle
chiefs and about a thousand of the warriors of the Cherokees at
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Illinois Tazewell county
Lincoln
Tazewell County deed clerks found an Abraham Lincoln mortgage and deed. “The document is a mortgage recorded on Sept. 10, 1844, for 234 acres of farmland located at what is now the southwest corner of the intersection of Allentown and Springfield Road in rural Tremont. The owners of the property in 1844, John H. and Isabella W. Morrison, presented the mortgage to Lincoln as collateral until they paid off a debt of $284.94 owed for legal services Lincoln and his legal partner Stephen T. Logan provided. John H. Morrison was Tazewell County Clerk at the time, serving from 1836-1847.” Source is By Mike Kramer, Pekin Daily Times Posted Monday Feb 10, 2020 at 8:54 PM Updated Feb 10, 2020 at 8:54 PM for the State Ledger Journal
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