A depiction of an April 27, 1763, meeting during which Pontiac, an Ottawa leader, urged tribes to band together to fight the British. Image from Wikipedia
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources will dedicate a marker at Kerr’s Creek, where tribal forces clashed with European settlers in the 1700s. Kerr's Creek is located in the western end of the state and was part of the homeland of the Shawnee people. According to historical sources, tribal warriors attacked settlers there in 1759 and 1763. The 1759 incident occurred during the French and Indian War, which was the North American theater of the Seven Years’ War. The British won the war and tribes, some of whom had been allied with the French, eventually grew upset with the policies of Jeffrey Amherst, a military general. Amherst is credited with coming up with biological warfare -- in the form of blankets infected with smallpox -- during Pontiac's War. The 1763 incident occurred during that war, when the Shawnees joined a confederation of other tribes, in an attempt to expel the British from their homelands. The marker at Kerr's Creek will be dedicated on April 8, the Associated Press reported. Get the Story:
Virginia marker recognizes early Indian, settler conflicts (AP 3/29)
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