Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1955-10-13
BY Roy Lee Yinger


or nothing can be cleaned from
historical records apropos tn
American Indian, who had hi
home in Montgomery County
The Smithsonian Institute ha
little or no knowledge about tn,
savages who must certainly hav,
trodden over the ground OF
which the museum is built!
They have sent their anthrc
biologists and psychologists al
over the world for elucidatiol
anent ancient people - but it i
our understanding that no appro
priation has ever been made TO
any archaeological exploration
on any of our major India
streams, the Potomac, Patuxent
Monocacy, or the three Senecas
1t is necessary then if we arr
to write at any length about
Montgomery County's Indians, tc
draw from our fund of know
ledge gotten the hard way - il-
the field.
We shall begin at the time
we found our first arrowhead
or projectile. We shall trace
a course of rs pleasant-spent
years hunting the Indians
camp sites, his workshops, his
permanent place of abode, and
finally, his last resting place
We shall try to visualize him
not as a savage, but as human
being, whose customs made as
much sense to him as ours do
to us. Day after day we have
been initiating him, and thus
paying tribute to him.
Our ladies take delight /
painting their faces oftimes JUS
as grotesquely as he did; we g,
out into the woods and cook foo
on sticks over hot Goals Just
he must have done; we hav
initiated his bone fish hooF
grown fond of his maize, h
potatoes and tobacco. Gu
modern canoes are fashione
after his, and while we improve
upon his weapons, he was ia
ahead of us on crop fertilization
To the Indian necessity was tn
mother of invention; if he was
to survive he had to keep fit
We see him as tall, 1.-the, an
stalwart, grave and taciturn; ur
flinching in torture; defiant j
death; adroit, remorseless an
sometimes treacherous in battle
bearing his woes with stoicisr
and fortitude. His days wer
spent hunting, fishing and fight
ing. His Squaws titled his fieldg
skinned his wild game, prepare
his food and bore his children.
Geographically, Montgomer.
County was ideally suited fol-
many of the Indians various pro
clivities. The climate was tenn
perate. Its fields and stream.
abounded in large numbers Of
game, fish, and fowl: az Inca
miles of fresh water in the Poto
mac, a few miles in the lowe
Monocacy, IS miles in the thre
Senecas, and about 40 miles, tn,
Patuxent. There was also a few
miles of tidewater. The Sugar
loaf Mountain was nearby
Astounding in deer, elk, caribou
and bison. Small game was
everywhere.
The artifacts found adjacent tc
: the Catoctin Mountains in Fred
erick County are similar to thos,
found in or about Seneca or Lit
tie Falls, showing conclusively
that the Indian had followed the
Potomac westward, the Monocacy
northward, the Tuscarora, Car
roll, Fishing, and Hunting Creek.
northwestward.
These journeys were actuall'
hunting expeditions. Food had t.
be stored for the long, frigid win
tiers. We see the Indian dropping
hot stones into crude clay YES
sells filled with water to make
1t hot. Patiently he pounds stone
with stone to form a groove il
the softer one for his axe. labor
iously he sets fire after fire il
a huge fallen tree, following i
put for his canoe; cunningly hi
snares and deadfalls are set I,
take the wild animals of the for
sst. His needlesharp arrows sho
from his hickory bow are eff
cient and deadly.
Our first actual knowledge of
Montgomery COunty's Indians
goes back TO the days OF Henry
Fleet, who, in 1925, assembled
the Potomac 10 the head of nav.
igation, and was captured by the
Indians. This happened in or
about the spot which is today
known as Little Falls, and is the
beginning Of tidewater on the
Potomac.
The tribe which Fleet encoul
tered was the Piscataways who's
village at that time lay near tn
month of PiscataNav Creek 1