Mount Hope: Prior to 1805
27/10/07 10:34 Filed in: General
Many sources give the impression that the lands
that became West Virginia were simply regarded and
used as "hunting lands" by Native Americans.
However there is a great deal of physical evidence
that the Native Peoples of North America occupied
and make great use the lands of present-day West
Virginia, including the area of Mount Hope, for
thousands of years prior to the arrival of the
white explorers.
A "row" of Indian mounds were said to be located along present-day Main Street in the area near the mouth of Sugar Creek. According to one eye-witness of the era, flint weapons were abundant and could picked up "by the handful."
When William Blake arrived in the area in about 1805 he and his family lived for a while in an old "Indian fort" located near the present location of the Wesleyan Church, just behind the Blake Cemetery. This so-called fort was a larged walled structure, circular in nature, constructed of field stone, with walls about ten feet high and three feet thick, with step-up stones arranged on the inside of the enclosure to provide a view over the wall. The earthen floor of the structure was lower than the surrounding land.
The size of the structure is not known, but one account told by Elizabeth Mosley (William Blake's granddaughter), who lived in Mt. Hope during the Civil War, stated that during an Indian alert two families, a horse, two cows, a flock of chickens and a pack of hounds took selter in the enclosure for a brief period of time.
When Blake first arrived to the area he is said to have found cleared fields grown up in broodesedge and sumac upon his first arrival to the area, as well as discovering what he called "wild cattle" grazing in the area.
The naming of the town involves a story that tells how early settlers found pea vines growing in great abundance in the valley of Mount Hope. However, peas are not a native plant of North America. Peas were introduced by early white explorers, and often presented to natives as a trade item or gift. Thus the peas found growing in the area were either cultivated by natives or spread by wildlife, or a combination of both.
An early water mill located in Mount Hope on "land high up a mountain side" was said to have been built on a rock chisled by Indians.
A "row" of Indian mounds were said to be located along present-day Main Street in the area near the mouth of Sugar Creek. According to one eye-witness of the era, flint weapons were abundant and could picked up "by the handful."
When William Blake arrived in the area in about 1805 he and his family lived for a while in an old "Indian fort" located near the present location of the Wesleyan Church, just behind the Blake Cemetery. This so-called fort was a larged walled structure, circular in nature, constructed of field stone, with walls about ten feet high and three feet thick, with step-up stones arranged on the inside of the enclosure to provide a view over the wall. The earthen floor of the structure was lower than the surrounding land.
The size of the structure is not known, but one account told by Elizabeth Mosley (William Blake's granddaughter), who lived in Mt. Hope during the Civil War, stated that during an Indian alert two families, a horse, two cows, a flock of chickens and a pack of hounds took selter in the enclosure for a brief period of time.
When Blake first arrived to the area he is said to have found cleared fields grown up in broodesedge and sumac upon his first arrival to the area, as well as discovering what he called "wild cattle" grazing in the area.
The naming of the town involves a story that tells how early settlers found pea vines growing in great abundance in the valley of Mount Hope. However, peas are not a native plant of North America. Peas were introduced by early white explorers, and often presented to natives as a trade item or gift. Thus the peas found growing in the area were either cultivated by natives or spread by wildlife, or a combination of both.
An early water mill located in Mount Hope on "land high up a mountain side" was said to have been built on a rock chisled by Indians.