The Tragedy of Elizabeth Galford

 

Thomas Galford was a prominent late-18th-century pioneer and one of the very earliest settlers of the Greenbrier Valley in Pocahontas County **. His legacy is preserved through the naming of **Galfords Creek** (a tributary of Sitlington Creek), where he carved out a homestead in the dense mountain wilderness **.

WPA historical records reconstruct his life through a mixture of formal land grants, local legends, and a devastating family tragedy:

1. The Bear Trap Barter and Land Holdings

• The 1782 Settlement: Thomas Galford settled along the creek—then known as Sitlington Creek—around 1782, appearing on the local tax registries that same year ``.
• The Bear Trap Legend: According to local family tradition, Galford did not originally buy his homestead with currency. Instead, he bartered a single bear trap to secure his first tract of land along the creek bank ``.
• The 1794 Land Grant: He later formalized his holdings by securing a land grant of 154 acres in 1794 **. By the time the WPA surveys were compiled in the early 1940s, this historic tract was still owned by his descendants, Wade Galford and Charley Wilfong, east of Glade Hill **.

2. The Tragedy of Elizabeth Galford

The naming of Galfords Creek was born directly from a heart-wrenching pioneer tragedy ``:

• The Disappearance: While Indian raids were still active in the region, Galford’s 14-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, was sent on a routine errand near their cabin and never returned ``.
• The Search: Fearing she had drowned, settlers searched the creek bed, only to discover a large Indian trail containing the girl's footprints, scraps of her clothing, and other signs confirming she had been taken captive **. The trail eventually grew too faint to follow, forcing the search party to abandon the pursuit **.

3. The Daring Ohio Rescue and Ambush

• Expedition to Ohio: Months after her capture, Thomas Galford and a fellow pioneer named Samuel Gregory traveled deep into hostile territory, reaching Indian villages in Ohio to search for Elizabeth **. Though they found no trace of his daughter, their return journey became a legendary tale of frontier survival **.
• The Horse Theft: On their way back, they managed to capture two highly prized stallions from the tribe—a bay stallion they named "Buck Rabbit" and another named "Irish Grey" ``.
• The Ambush: Knowing they would be fiercely pursued, Galford and Gregory doubled back on their own trail and hid in ambush **. When the pursuing war party caught up, the two pioneers opened fire, shooting two or three of the pursuers **. This checked the chase long enough for them to travel through the night and successfully escape back to Pocahontas County ``.

4. The Fate of the Relics

• The Stallions: Both captured stallions became famous in the region's early history; "Buck Rabbit" was sold to John Bird (ancestor of the prominent Bird family of Highland County), and "Irish Grey" was sold to John Harness, a well-known trader from Staunton ``.
• The Indian Ornaments: Silver ornaments and bracelets stripped from the pursued Indians were kept by the family as physical proof of the encounter **. These precious relics were preserved for decades until they were tragically destroyed by fire when **Thomas Galford Junior's** house burned to the ground **.

WPA recorders poetically conclude that as long as Galfords Creek ripples toward the sea, it serves as a permanent, living monument to the memory and tragic loss of young Elizabeth Galford ``.

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🛶 I can trace the dramatic capture of Moses Moore by the Shawnee Indians near the Greenbrier River—including his daring escape and how he won the respect of his captors by running the gauntlet—if you want to explore more frontier survival stories.