Draper's Meadow massacre

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On July 8, 1755, a small outpost among the rolling ridges of southwest Virginia, was raided by Shawnee Indians.[1] Rising tensions between the natives and western settlers were exacerbated by fighting in the French and Indian War and the encroachment on tribal hunting grounds. Recent victories by the French over the British, although north of Virginia, had left much of the frontier unprotected. Unlike the French pioneers who tended to be hunters and trappers, these settlers were establishing an agricultural community with potentially permanent inhabitants.[1]

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[edit] History of Draper's Meadow

The original 7,500 acre (30 km²) tract was awarded to James Patton, an Irish sea captain turned land speculator. This land was bordered Tom's Creek on the north, Stroubles Creek on the south and the Mississippi Watershed (modern-day U.S. Route 460) on the east; it approached the New River on the west. The settlement was situated near the present day campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. At the time of the attack, the area had been populated by a group of around twenty settlers which were a mix of migrants from Pennsylvania of English and Germanic origin.[1]

[edit] The Massacre

A group of Shawnee entered the sparsely populated camp virtually unimpeded. At least five settlers were killed: Mr. Patton, Elenor Draper (Mary Draper Ingles' mother), Bettie Draper's baby, Casper,[2] and Philip Barger, who was described as an old man and was decapitated by the Indians; they delivered his head in a bag to a neighbor, explaining that an acquaintance had arrived to visit[3]. Five settlers were taken back to Kentucky as captives to live among the tribe, including Mary Draper Ingles [1], who escaped at Big Bone, Kentucky, and made a journey of more than eight hundred miles (1300 km) across the Appalachian Mountains back to Draper's Meadow. Her marriage to William Ingles is said to be the first white wedding west of the Alleghenies. Also taken captive were her two sons; one of which, Thomas Ingles, lived among the Indians for many years and never fully gave up the Shawnee way of life.[1]

[edit] The Aftermath

In the aftermath, Draper's Meadow was abandoned - as was much of the frontier for the duration of the French and Indian War. William Preston, who had been in Draper's Meadow on the morning of the attack but left on an errand and so was saved, eventually obtained the property, which became Smithfield Plantation. Out of the surviving family members, only the Bargers returned later to re-claim their land and settle.[2]

[edit] Further reading

Follow the River, a historical novel by James Alexander Thom, is based on the story of Mary Draper Ingles and has sold over one million copies.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Drapers Meadow: Few traces remain of the site of a bloody 1755 Indian attack. The Roanoke Times. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  2. ^ a b Historic Structure Report: History Narrative. University Libraries, Virginia Tech. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
  3. ^ "Mary Ingles' Escape Story Like 'Thriller' Fiction Tale". Charleston Daily Mail, June 4, 1937. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.