Wednesday 23d. Rain’d till about two oClock & Clear’d when we were agreeably surpris’d at the sight of thirty odd Indians coming from War with only one Scalp. We had some Liquor with us of which we gave them Part it elevating there Spirits put them in the Humour of Dauncing of whom we had a War Daunce. There Manner of Dauncing is as follows Viz. They clear a Large Circle & make a great Fire in the Middle then seats themselves around it the Speaker makes a grand Speech telling them in what Manner they are to Daunce after he has finish’d the best Dauncer Jumps up as one awaked out of a Sleep & Runs & Jumps about the Ring in a most comicle Manner he is followd by the Rest then begins there Musicians to Play the Musick is a Pot half of Water with a Deerskin Streched over it as tight as it can & a goard with some Shott in it to Rattle & a Piece of an horses Tail tied to it to make it look fine the one keeps Rattling and the other Drumming all the While the others is Dauncing.
May 8th. Ferried over the River into Maryland; and March’d to Mr. Jackson’s, 8 Miles from Mr. Coxs’s where we found a Maryland Company encamped in a fine Situation on the Banks of the Potomack; with clear’d ground about it; there lives Colonel Cressop, a Rattle Snake, Colonel and a D – d Rascal; calls himself a Frontiersman, being nearest the Ohio; he had a summons sometimes since from the French to retire from his Settlement, which they claim as their property, but he refused it like a man of Spirit; This place is the Track of Indian Warriours, when going to War, either to the No’ward, or So’ward. He hath built a little Fort round his House, and is resolved to keep his Ground. We got plenty of Provisions. &ca. General arrived with Captains Orme and Morris, with Secretary Shirley and a Company of light Horse for his Guard, under the Command of Capt. Stewart, the General lay at the Colonels.
After the war the frontier moved on westward, Cresap's eldest son built a fine stone house, and the fort was abandoned. Since this is such a famous site, there have been many efforts to find it, and it has been placed in at least three different spots. There is even a historical marker at one of those spots. Alas, it is the wrong spot; one of the others, as we showed last spring, is the actual site of the fort. Above and below are some of the artifacts we found there.
3 comments:
I am a local historian and member of the Cresap Society of Md., and the Maryland Archeological society. I am really interested in your finding the true Cresap Fort site.
I would really appreciate your sharing the location of the Cresap fort site you mentioned locating last spring.
Respectfully,
R.Bantz
E-Mail: bbantz@atlanticbb.net
I am a local historian and member of the Cresap Society of Md., and the Maryland Archeological society. I am really interested in your finding the true Cresap Fort site.
I would really appreciate your sharing the location of the Cresap fort site you mentioned locating last spring.
Respectfully,
R.Bantz
E-Mail: bbantz@atlanticbb.net
Near Oldtown on C&O Canal Park property is the best I can do.
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