Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1926-06-02
THE BATTLE OF THE TROUGH.

Z
Of orr forefathers Of the East ard
the many battles fought with the
Redmen IN this pzrt Of the country.
There + a reason. When the whites
| pushed beyond the Blue Ridge ard
into the Allegheny country. Indian
warfare was SO constant. the Indians
were 20 heartily disliked and Their
customs 50 well known that there
were few who thought s worthwhile
20 write e0ntemporaneoHs accounts
Of the conflicts Of the daF.
We are indebted 20 TIE foresight
Of Samuel Rercheval II writing rs
History Of the Shenandoah VALLEY.
which Il in fact q history Of the
settlement period Of the great VIZ
ginia Valley and much Of the Ale
rheuv Country. His work IS looked
upon today a. a source information
and 50 far as this part Of the country
Is concerned stands In a class oy II
self.
So popular mas beer the work Of
Mr.. Kereheval that the Fourth Ed
tor = row being printed BY the
Shenandoah Publishing House Of
strasburg. near which place Mr.. Ker-
ebeval 3 buried. The Dre-puDlca-
ton price Of This Fourth Edition .
S3.0 Rhien price VII Be raised %
$3.50. a. soon as the book Is ready
for distribution in the very near fa-
ture. Tn following is ar account Of
the Battle Of the Trough. which
took place in the year 1856. near
Pomnev and M00refield. as recorded
BY Kereheval.
'sThe memorable battle Of TIE
Trough. saws DR.. TurIeg. was pre-
ceeded bV following circumstance.
On me day previous. two Indian
str0llers. from a large party Of sixty
or seventy warriors. under the we'll
known ard ferocious chief, Kill
buck made an attack upon the dwell
ing If a Mrs Brake. on the South
Fork Of the South Branch Of the P0-
t0mae. about fifteen miles above
M0orefeld and took Mrs. Brake and
Mrs Nef prisoners. The former
rot being able to travel from her
situation. was tomahawked and
scalDed. and the latter brought down
to the vicinity q Town Fort. about
one and 2 half miles below Moore
field There. ore Of the Indians.
under the pretense Of hunting. re-
tired ard the other laid himself
down and pretended 70 fall asleep.
with view as was believed. 70 let
Mrs Nef escape and give the alarm.
Everything turned out agreeablv 20
their expectations; for as soon as
she reached the fort. and related the
circumstances Of her escape. eighteen
men from that and Bultermilk Fort.
five miles above. went in pursuit.
They we're men notorious for their
valor. and had been well tried on
many such occasions.
As soon as they came TO the
place Indicated bv Mr.. Nef, thew
found plain trace left by the IN
dians. hv occasionally breaking a
bush Mr. John Harness. who was
well acquainted with the manners
and modes Of warfare af me Indians.
pronounced shat the hunter Indian
mad not returned to ms comrade. or
that they were in great force some
whore near and in ambush. They.
however. pursued the trade. without
discovering any signs Of larger
party, until they arrived. between
two mountains. forming what. from
its resemblance. is The Trough. Here.
directly above a. fine spring. about
two hundrd PAGES from the river.
which at that time was filed to an
impassable stage by a heavy fall of
ran, these grim monsters Of blood
were encamped. to the number above
stated. The western face of the ridge
was very precipitOus and rough. and
on the north of the spring was a deep
ravine. cutting directly up into the
ridge above. Our little band of he
roes. nothing daunted by the superior
number of the enemy, dismounted
unobserved. and prepared for battle,
leaving their horses on the ridge. But
by one of those unforeseen and unac-
countable accidents which often
thwart the seemingly best planned
enterprises, small dog which had
followed them. Just at this juncture
started a rabbit. and went yelping
down the ridge. giving the Indians
timely notice of their approach. They
Immediately flew TO arms. and fling
off up the ravine before described.
passed directly into the rear of onr
little band, placing them in the very
situation they had TO find their enc.
mics. between the mountain and the
swollen river. Now came the tug of
"NA anu bObH pdiNitS IuSTlcu 10 IHE
onset, dealing death and slaughter at
every fire. After an hour or two of
hard fighting. during which each of
our little band had numbered his
man. and more than half their num-
/ Der had fallen TO rise no more. those
that remained We're compelled TO re-
treat. which could only be effected
by swimming the river Some who
had been wounded. not being able to
do this. determined to sell their lives
as dearly as possible. and deliberate
ly loading their rifles. and placing
/ themselves behind some cover On the
river bank, dealt certain death To
the first adversary. who made his APP
pearance. and then calmly Welded to
| the tomahawk.
9TH Indian Chief. Kill-buck. af.
/ forwards admittd that. although he
! had witnessed many sanguinarv con.
tests, this was the most so he had
/ ever experienced for the number of
ms enmies. Kill-buck was a Shaw.
nee. savage of strong mental pow.
ers, and well acquainted with all the