Indian and Settler Conflict

On 18 Dec. 1742, the first known clash between Indians and colonial settlers in Rockbridge County took place near the mouth of the Maury River. Iroquois en route south from Pennsylvania encountered pioneers led by Capt. John McDowell. Although accounts differ on how the conflict arose, it resulted in the deaths of more than seventeen Indians and settlers including McDowell. To avert a war, Lieutenant Governor George Thomas, of Pennsylvania, mediated the conflict in 1744 with the Treaty of Lancaster. It was decided that Lieutenant Governor William Gooch, of Virginia, would pay the Iroquois a reparation of 100 pounds.

Department of Historic Resources, 2000