was Wheeling in 1777. At first the fort had been called
Fincastle, for the Ohio Valley settlements were then in
Fincastle County, Va.; but upon the opening of the Revolution
the post, now in Ohio County, was named Fort Henry, in honor of
the first state governor of Virginia.--R. G. T.

[4] News came to Fort Pitt, early in August, that an Indian
attack in force, on Wheeling, might be expected at any time.
Says the Shane MSS., "White Eyes came to Fort Pitt and told
them the Indians were going to take Wheeling home." August
2d, Gen. Hand wrote to David Shepherd, lieutenant of Ohio
County, warning him of the perilous situation, and ordering
him to leave his own fort, six miles from Fort Henry, and
to rally at the latter all the militia between the Ohio and
Monongahela,--the "pan-handle." Shepherd did this, and by
the close of the month Fort Henry was, as he said, "Indian
proof." But the non-arrival of the foe caused a relaxation of
vigilance. Nine companies were allowed to go home, and by
the last day of August only two companies remained in the
fort, those of Capts. Joseph Ogle and Samuel Mason.--R. G. T.

[5] Shepherd to Hand, Sept. 15, 1777: "By the best judges
here ... it is thought their numbers must have been not less
than between two and three hundred." The Shepherd, Hand, Shane,
and Doddridge MSS., in the library of the Wisconsin Historical
Society, throw much light on this episode.--R. G. T.

[6] The Indians made their appearance on the night of August
31st--not September 1st, as in the text. The incident here
related occurred at about sunrise of September 1st. Andrew
Zane, young John Boyd, Samuel Tomlinson, and a negro, set out
to hunt for the horses of Dr. James McMechen, because the
latter wished that day to return to the older settlements,
either on the Monongahela, or east of the mountains. Boyd was
killed, but his companions escaped--Zane, by leaping from a
cliff, the height of which local tradition places at seventy
feet.--R. G. T.

[7] De Hass, in his _History of the Early Settlement and
Indian Wars of West Virginia_,--a conscientious work, which
depends, however, too closely on traditions,--says (p. 225),
"out of the fourteen, but two escaped."--R. G. T.