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Shenandoah Valley From The Blue Ridge Mountain

It is my firm belief that the culture of the Shenandoah Valley is like that of a kaleidoscope.  We are not of the traditional "melting pot" theory. Instead of melting our European cultures into an undistinguished blob of humanity, we took the very best parts of the many nationalities who had chosen to make their homes within our valley and merged them into one beautiful picture.   The results became known as our unique Shenandoah Valley heritage.

Come along with me as we  explore the many exciting aspects of our valley's development which have contributed to this way of life.  It is important that we do this in order to find the records of our more elusive ancestors who either lived in or traveled through this area.  We must begin at the beginning because the Shenandoah Valley had its plurality of cultures prior to 1750.

To begin at the beginning, it is necessary to define the early historic period of the Shenandoah Valley. To do this, it is necessary to examine the official records maintained by the various nationalities which explored our valley and its adjacent areas.

Virginia's coastal Indians were exposed to Europeans prior to Captain John Smith's arrival at Jamestown on the 13th of May 1607.  Previous to that date Spanish adventurers had explored the Chesapeake Bay, capturing several Indians and taking them back to Spain on their return voyage.

Several years later, in 1570, a mission was established in the Chesapeake Bay area by Spanish Jesuits as a direct result of the previous explorations.  These priests were later massacred by Opechancanough, the uncle of Pocahontas.

In 1608, Captain John Smith ascended the Rappahannock River on an exploring expedition. He reached a point about twenty-six miles above the current town of Fredericksburg. Without doubt, Captain John Smith saw the Blue Ridge.  When he asked an Indian, whom he had captured, what lay beyond the mountain, the Indian replied that he did not know because the woods were not burned. Based upon this, it can be determined that the party of Captain John Smith were the first white men to see the Blue Ridge Mountains in present Clark and Warren Counties.

Samuel Champlain's map which was engraved in Paris, France, in the year 1632, shows the Colony of Virginia as well as the area covered in Champlain's expedition into northwestern New York in 1609 and into western New York in 1616.

"A table of remarkable places" identified by numerical numbers with corresponding numbers on the map is to be found in Champlain's report. Number fifty-eight shows the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers at Harper's Ferry in West Virginia.   The sources of these rivers are clearly delineated.

The Shenandoah Valley is shown to the southwest from Harper's Ferry to Port Republic in present day Rockingham County. Number sixty-one on the map is Jamestown. As Samuel Champlain never visited Virginia, it is reasonably to conclude that the Virginia portion of his map was based upon the explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries who accompanied the Iroquois from New York to wage war upon the Indians to the south [western North Carolina and Georgia].

The League of the Iroquois [The People of the Longhouse] was composed of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, and later the Tuscarora Indian tribes. The date of the formation of the League of the Iroquois is uncertain as historians and anthropologists vary from 1451 - 1650.

The Virginia colonists came into contact with the Iroquois at an early date.  Colonel Henry Coursey, representing Maryland and Virginia, first met  with the Iroquois at Albany in 1677.  The League of  the Iroquois did not strictly observe the treaties made in Albany in 1677, 1679, and 1684.

In recorded history, the Iroquois war-path was known by many names including the following: The Indian Road, The Great Road, The King's Highway, The Pennsylvania Road, The Great Road from the Yadkin, The Wilderness Road, The Stage Road, and The Valley Pike.

This road started in central New York [home of the Iroquois League] and followed the eastern branch of the Susquehannah River to a point near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  From there it proceeded westerly to the Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania and from there down the valley to Williamsport, Maryland where it crossed the Potomac River.

From Williamsport the road went to Winchester, Virginia.  A short distance from Winchester, the road separated. One branch went to Front Royal [Warren County] and from there up the South River or the main river of the Shenandoah, passing Luray [Page County] and Port Republic [Rockingham County].

The main road continued up the Valley, near Lacey Springs [Rockingham County] it turned left and passed through Keezletown and Cross Keys.  About three and one miles southwest of Cross Keys the road turned left to Beard's Ford where it crossed North River. The road crossed Middle River just below Mount Meridian and proceeded from there to a point two and one-half miles southwest of New Hope.  The road then turned left and passed through Fishersville [Augusta County], from there it proceeded past Tinkling Spring Church to the Valley of the South River where the two roads or trails again united.

The road went up the South River to Augusta County, passed over into the Valley of the South River in Rockbridge County and James River, crossing at Looney's Ferry.  The road passed through present Boterourt and Roanoke Counties, crossed the Blue Ridge through the water gap of the Staunton or Roanoke River, and leaving Henry County, to the left finally reached the Catawba Tribes in western North Carolina. It ended at the Yadkin River.

The Indians changed this route to suit themselves as it was their road or war path. The Iroquois at a conference held in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania [22 June 1744 - 4 July 1744] stated that they had changed the route "a good deal more to the West" to comply with the agreement with Governor Spotswood [Treaty of Albany].  Prior to 1722, the Indian Road was on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge.  The Indians complained that the whites did not abide by the agreement as "they came and lived on our side of the Hill", meaning the Blue Ridge.  The Indians experienced difficulties with the whites and changed the new road again to the west.  It was then [1744] at the foot of the Great Mountains and they stated that they could not locate it farther west because, "the country was absolutely impassable to man or beast." The Indians wanted the government to enforce the conditions of the treaty as guaranteed  to them by the Commissioners.

Before the year 1734  this roadway had been enlarged to a full size wagon road as can be confirmed in many of the early grants found in Frederick and Spotsylvania Counties.
[To be continued.]