The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-04-13

! GOtomac and followed the road from
/ Winchester to Willis creek, or Fort
Cumberland, on the Upper Potomac,
where the city of Cumberland, Nd.
now stands.
+ Almost the first news of the defeat
OF BraddOck was brought to the set
/ tiers of the valley of the Antietam by
| the Indians, who came upon than
with tomahawk, scalping knife and
/ tirebrand. Up to this time the set
tiers and Indians had lived together
/ upon the most friendly terms No
quarrel or disturbance between them
has been recorded. Suddenly in the
winter of 1854 aid 1875 every Indian
mysteriously disappeared French
emissaries had been among them and
had persuaded them to go out to the
Ohio to join them in their war against
! the British.
Their sudden and hostile return,
some of their parties with French
captains, found the colonists entirely
unprepared. HOratio Sharpe was
Governor of Maryland at that time.
and never was there Il more active
Governor. He was surrounded with
difficulties. The Colonial Legislature
was composed mainly of members
from the tidewater counties which
were in no danger from the Indians,
and they were slow and niggardly in
making appropriations for the defense
of the frontier. Then there was a
wrangle with Lord Baltimore about
taxation upon his property for pur-
poses of public defense. To this the
Proprietor would not submit, and it
was made the excuse for permitting
the unfortunate frontier settlers to be
massacred for lack of military force
to protect them.
Early in the strife, by persistent eff
fort, Governor Sharpe got an appro-
priation of $4,000 for the construction
of Fort Frederick, and his industry
and determination were so great that
in two months the fort had been suffi-
GENTLY advanced to accommodate a
garrison of 200 men.
The Indian War continued for
more than decade and the depreda-
tions and incursions of bands of say
ages into the valley did not cease I'M
til long after the treaty of peace be-
tween France aud England had been
concluded. The horrible cruelties
practiced upon the settlers by the In
dians so Infatuated the whites that
they could no longer dwell in peace
near each other. About 1866 the In
dams disappeared and since then
none have lived in Maryland.
Governor SharpS activity in behalf
of the colOnists was unremitting. He
not only had Fort Frederick built and
garisoned. but also made number of
smaller wooden forts or bIockhouses
as places of refuge for settlers upon
any sudden alarm. While Fort-Fred-
erick was building, Washington was
buisly engaged upon a similar work
at Winchester, Va. The first incur
sion of the Indians created such a
picnic that almost the entire popula-
ton of the Maryland valley fled across
the country to the older settlements
Early in 1856 Washington wrote to
Lord Fairfax that the whole colony
of COnOcOcheague had fed and that
between that place and Frederick
City only two families remained At
one time party of Indians penetrat-
ed to within 30 miles of Baltimore,
spreading CONSERVATION among the
people of a great part of the p oYince
and creating a panic in Annapolis.
This was new experience fer the
people of unimportant conflicts with
the Nanticoke Indians a century be
fore, they had always lived upon
friendly terms with the Indians and
except upon the frontier, had seldom
come in contact with them.
yin tlliV w tllC SCltlCIS WOulo
return to their homes in the valley.
Thew would seed and harvest their
crops in armed bodies and take refuge
in the forts at night. Sometimes fam
lilies would spend the entire summer
! behind these palisades, returning to
their homes after the Indians had re-
tired to the headquarters of the
French on the Ohio river, to spend
the winter. At other times the people
would remain in their homes, trusit
ing to being notified of the approach
of danger. When the approach Oh
a band of Indians was discovered a
messenger would 20 swiftly from
house to house to warn the inmates.
a gentle tap upon the window was
the signal The family would arise
in silence and in the darkness take
! their fight to the nearest fort. Per
haps the messenger would arrive too
| late, and then the unfortunate persons
would be dragged from their beds,
men, women and children, and scalp