This short but vicious conflict between Virginia militia and Shawnee and Mingo warriors had a complex beginning. As we've seen in earlier posts, the French and Indian War ended in 1762 with England in firm possession of the Ohio Valley. King George III then issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, forbidding White settlement past the Appalachian Mountains. This left the area between the Ohio River and the Appalachians, including what is now West Virginia and portions of (counter-clockwise), Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, as free hunting range for several Native tribes. Although the Iroquois claimed first rights to the land, those claims were contested by the Shawnee, Delaware, Mingo and Cherokee, among others. After Pontiac's Rebellion and the negotiations at Fort Stanwix in 1768, British officials tried to play both ends against the middle, pleasing settlers and land speculators (including British Superintendent Sir William Johnson), by pushing the Proclamation boundary back to the Ohio River. The Iroquois gave up their rights to the land. The Cherokee were promised hunting rights as long as they left Settlers alone. Other Native tribes, particularly the Shawnee and the Mingo, weren't consulted. As White settlers poured into the area, they clashed with Native hunting parties. Skirmishes broke out between Natives protecting their hunting range and Settlers claiming their property. Fed up, the Shawnee began talks with other tribes, seeking potential allies for an attack against the Settlers.
In 1773, Daniel Boone led a party of emigrants to establish a colony in what was then known as Kentucky County, Virginia. On October 9, 1773, Boone's 16-year-old son and another teenager were kidnapped by a band of Shawnee, Cherokee and Delaware/Lenape and killed. Boone's party abandoned the settlement and went back to Virginia. More attacks against Settlers and surveyors further inflamed the situation. In Spring, 1774, Michael Cresap again attempted to lead a party of Settlers to the area of what is now Sistersville, West Virginia. Two other parties of settlers, one under Ebenezer Zane and the other under George Rogers Clark, also pushed their way into the Ohio Valley. Because Cresap had the most military experience, he was selected to deal with any Native resistance they met along the way. As this was going on, a Mingo hunting party which included relatives of Chief Logan were ambushed inside a cabin by a smaller party led by Daniel Greathouse. Logan's younger brother, two female relatives and a child were among those killed. Logan was informed of the tragedy, but told that Cresap had headed the party which murdered his family. The loss of his family was compounded by what Logan considered personal treachery, as he had once considered Cresap a friend. Settlers in the area realized that the Yellow Creek Massacre, as it was called, was an open declaration of war on all Native tribes in the Ohio Valley. They began fleeing back into Pennsylvania or Virginia, or erecting forts with blockhouses. On May 5, 1774, the Shawnee delivered a warning through a trusted courier, most likely one of the Girty brothers (more on them later). While they were willing to talk peace, they were not willing to trust what they might be told and more likely looking at war.
Virginia officials chose to interpret the Shawnee message as an overt threat of violence. John Murray, 4th Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia, began assembling an elite force of experienced militia to meet the Natives in battle. Meanwhile, Sir William Johnson and his counterpart in the South, John Stuart, sent emissaries among the Natives, trying to break up the Shawnee confederacy. They were successful in isolating the Shawnee and Mingo, leaving them open to whatever Dunmore could throw at them. Dunmore's forces converged on the headwaters of the Kenawha River and established Camp Pleasant, soon to become known as Point Pleasant, now in West Virginia. On October 10, 1774, a contingent of Dunmore's force under Captain Andrew Lewis was attacked by a war party under Shawnee leader Cornstalk. Despite heavy losses, Lewis' men ultimately prevailed in the Battle of Point Pleasant and drove the Shawnee back. The victory had the desired effect. Dunmore's forces advanced into what is now Pickaway County, Ohio and erected Camp Charlotte. There, on October 19, 1774, he met Cornstalk and other Shawnee leaders, who agreed to cede their hunting rights in the Ohio Valley and cease to harass settlers. Logan was summoned to the talks but did not attend. He sent a message by Simon Girty, who transmitted it from memory to one of the official interpreters at the council meeting. The Mingo refused the terms of the Treaty and were punished by a raid on one of their villages near what is now Steubensville, Ohio. The village was burned to the ground, with most of its inhabitants killed.
The Mingo and Shawnee withdrew to fight another day. On March 24, 1775, barely a month before Lexington and Concord, a Shawnee war party attacked Daniel Boone again, on his way into the Ohio Valley with another group of Settlers. As the Revolution commenced, Shawnee and Mingo warriors joined forces with Dragging Canoe's Cherokee to carry out attacks on Settlers in the backcountry. The frontier was far from peaceful.
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