University of Virginia Library

PREFACE.

It is sincerely regretted that circumstances should have arisen to
delay the publication of the present volume beyond the time contemplated
in the original prospectus. That delay, however, instead
of impairing, will be found to have added to the merits of the work,
by the opportunity which it has given to render more comprehensive
its local character, and more accurate its general details. In the
preparation of this work, we have encountered difficulties which at
times appeared almost insurmountable. None but those who have
attempted such a task, from so great a mass of apparently irreconcilable
facts and statements as we have had to work upon, can form
any conception of the labor and difficulty undergone. Starting out
with the avowed determination to make the TRUTH of history substitute
the error, we soon found that the line drawn would be
a difficult and painful one to pursue; for it necessarily compelled
us to do violence to the feelings of some, and greatly disappoint
the expectations of others. But, determined faithfully and impartially
to discharge our obligations, we have strictly adhered to the
course marked out, and enforced with rigid severity the rule adopted
for our guidance. All statements of doubtful authority have been
discarded, and no evidence received but that of the most unquestionable
character. A few errors may, nevertheless, have crept into
our pages; but these are believed to be unimportant as they were
unavoidable. In the preparation of this volume, we have labored

to present not a mere compilation of facts, but a history drawn
from sources original and reliable. To accomplish this, the very
best means have been adopted; public documents searched, private
records examined; and the living witnesses who still linger among
us,—sole depositories of many important historical facts, without
which our annals would be incomplete, personally consulted. The
labor has been difficult, annoying and expensive, as much of it could
not be performed without considerable personal inconvenience.

The early history of the West is full of most lively interest to
readers, both at home and abroad; and that which relates to Western
Virginia and its borders is so in an especial degree. Here it was that
Washington received those severe lessons in war which prepared
him for the great achievements he so gloriously performed in after
life, and here was struck the first great blow in the struggle for
American Independence.

A distinctive feature of the work will be found in Part VII.,
containing biographical sketches of some of the prominent actors in
our border wars;—the men who, amid dangers, privations and suffering,
founded, in the depth of the primeval forest, the institutions
of freedom we now enjoy. It is a matter of great regret that the
prescribed limits of the work could not permit the insertion of all
the memoirs contemplated in the original design. This omission it
is hoped to supply in a subsequent edition.

Some other changes have also been made. The ground proposed
to be gone over was found far too extensive to allow justice to be
done each subject; and therefore, we determined to confine ourselves
strictly to the three distinctive features of the work—History, Indian
Wars, and Biography. This departure from the original plan cannot
but render the volume more acceptable to the local as well as the
general reader. That part which we proposed to embrace under the
head of a Topographical description of the North-western counties,
will either be given in a subsequent edition, or embodied in a separate

work on the Present Condition, Resources and Statistics of
Western Virginia. There are one or two references in the text to
the county notices proposed to be given, which the reader will
understand without further explanation.

In consequence of this departure from our original plan, some
portions of the work have been prepared with considerable haste,
and occasionally, the labors of others called into requisition. This
course has been to a certain extent unavoidable; the Author having
recently received an appointment under the Government, which will
require and engage both his time and attention.

To the many kind friends who have furnished material and extended
facilities in the preparation of the present volume, the Author
returns his sincere thanks.

With these brief statements, explanations and acknowledgments,
the volume is respectfully submitted to the public.