Indian Draft: A History

 

 

Indian Draft is a small branch in Pocahontas County that flows from Elk Mountain to Stony Creek at Campbell Town.

 

The Draft earned its name because Indians traveled through it on a path from New York to Georgia. The trails forked near Edray: one crossing Elk Mountain, and the other leading to Clover Lick. The first roads, as well as modern highways, still generally follow those original trails. 

Bands of Indians would camp at the mouth of the Indian Draft on their way to and from Ohio and Washington. Early settlers reported that the Indians considered the area to be sacred ground. According to tradition, the Indians traveled through the area to visit the graves of their forefathers.

 Notable Events & Residents

Thomas Drennon was the first to open up the lands around Indian Draft.

 

A surveyor decided the beginning corner of one of the Drennon land grants could be located by sighting a straight line to a black oak on Clover Creek Mountain from Drennon's cabin. Thomas Drennon's home was destroyed in an Indian raid in 1797. His wife was taken captive and killed on Elk Mountain.

 Robert Moore, son of pioneer Moses Moore, eventually took possession of the Drennon homestead.

Robert Moore likely first visited the property as a young boy while traveling with his father and others as they pursued a group of French surveyors and their Indian guides. The Frenchmen were ambushed at the forks of Indian Draft. During the ambush, one Indian was killed and a Frenchman was wounded. Fifty years later, human remains were found near the forks, which may have belonged to members of the exploring party.

Lawrence Drennon, brother of Thomas Drennon, had a home near the mouth of Indian Draft on the Greenbrier River.

 

In 1784, Indians raided his home. During the raid Henry Baku was shot and killed, Richard Bill escaped by jumping a fence, and John and James Bridger were captured. The Bridger boys were later killed.

In another raid, Indians captured a school teacher and a young white girl at the mouth of Indian Draft.

Pursuers overtook the Indians three miles from Huntersville as they traveled along Indian Draft. When the pursuers opened fire, the Indians killed the Sloan baby by smashing its head against a tree. The gunfire startled the pack horse that 13 year-old Joseph was riding, throwing him into a patch of nettles. The Indians escaped with their three remaining prisoners, traveling by way of Indian Draft. Joseph, who was found in the nettle patch, grew up to lose his leg in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. 

The murdered infant was buried near the present-day intersection of the Marlinton and Huntersville road and Marlin Run. The prisoners were eventually ransomed from the Indians in Detroit after a year of captivity.

 During the Civil War, Union prisoner Vorville escaped from a Gay house above the Fair Ground after knocking out his guard.

 He was overtaken at the mouth of Indian Draft, and was shot after resisting capture.

 Bishop Asbury, considered the father of the Methodist church in the United States, mentions Drennon on Indian Draft as one of his regular stopping points when traveling from Maine to Georgia.

According to his diary, the Bishop would spend a day at Drennon preparing for the 20-mile trip through the Elk Valley Wilderness, and a day at Bingo Flats to recover from it.

 The ghost of John Drennon, a soldier in the War of 1812 who died in Norfolk, Virginia, is said to haunt Indian Draft.

 Young William Gay, Sr. was returning from a mill on Knapp Creek by way of Indian Draft when his horse suddenly stopped. When he looked to see what had frightened the animal, he saw John Drennon wrapped in a blanket in the fence corner. Before the boy could speak, the horse bolted. Gay told his family about seeing the soldier, believing he was on his way home from the war and that they would soon hear news of him. When he didn't appear, a search party was organized but he was never found. News of his death eventually reached his family.

During the Civil War, the 8th and 19th regiments of the Tennessee Infantry camped at Edray on Indian Draft in 1861.

 Measles broke out and several men died. Their bones remain there to this day.

 Confederate soldiers are said to have buried a pot of gold and silver on Indian Draft while retreating from an encampment at the end of Endless Mountain.

Tradition holds that the treasure remains, although some say it is not on Indian Draft but on Stony Creek, Stumping Creek, or Stamping Creek. At least two groups, one from West Virginia and one from out of state, have searched for the buried treasure.