Indian-Settler Conflicts

During Dunmore's War (1774) and the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) conflicts between Indians and colonists often intensified as European powers encouraged Indians from the Ohio region to attack frontier settlers. Tensions also sometimes increased when settlers moved into lands that were once Indian territory. Nearby to the south, an early conflict occurred in the upper Clinch River Valley, when Indians attacked and killed John Henry, his wife and their children on 8 Sept. 1774. Additional conflicts took place during this period, including a March 1782, Indian attack on the house of James Maxwell that killed two of his daughters.