man being; and at the
expiration of it went to the South Branch, where he disposed of his
furs and skins and then returned to, and continued at, his encampment
at the mouth of Elk, until permanent settlements were made in its
vicinity.

The Pringles kept up the Valley river 'till they observed a large
right hand fork, (now Buchannon),[1] which they ascended [91] some
miles; and at the mouth of a small branch (afterward called Turkey
run) they took up their abode in the cavity of a large Sycamore
tree.[2] The stump of this is still to be seen, and is an object of no
little veneration with the immediate descendants of the first
settlers.

The situation of these men, during a residence here of several years,
although rendered somewhat necessary by their previous conduct, could
not have been very enviable. Deserters from the army, a constant fear
of discovery filled their minds with inquietude.--In the vicinity of a
savage foe, the tomahawk and scalping knife were ever present to their
imaginations.--Remote from civilized man, their solitude was hourly
interrupted by the frightful shrieks of the panther, or the hideous
howlings of the wolf.--And though the herds of Buffalo, Elk and Deer,
which gamboled sportively around, enabled them easily to supply their
larder; yet the want of salt, of bread, and of every species of
kitchen vegetable, must have abated their relish for the, otherwise,
delicious loin of the one, and haunch of the others. The low state of
their little magazine too, while it limited their hunting, to the bare
procuration of articles of subsistence, caused them, from a fear of
discovery, to shrink at the idea of being driven to the settlements,
for a supply of ammunition. And not until they were actually reduced
to two loads of powder, could they be induced to venture again into
the vicinity of their fellow men. In the latter part of the year 1767,
John left his brother, and intending to make for a trading post on the
Shenandoah, appointed the period of his return.

Samuel Pringle, in the absence of John, suffered a good deal. The
stock of provisions left him became entirely exhausted--one of his
loads of powder, was expended in a fruitless attempt to shoot a
buck--his brother had already delayed his return several days longer
than was intended, and he was apprehensive that he had been
recognized, taken to Port Pitt and would probably never get back. With
his remaining load of powder, however he was fortu