Walker Valley Attacked

The Walkers were always the most western settlers and heavily engaged in the forest wars of the Appalachians and from 1750 forward there is no record of any Walker man who did not take part if able to.  Fifteen Walkers were reported to have been killed or captured in the Forest Wars.

In 1781 fighting on two fronts against the British on the east and the Indians to the west, it was rare to ever see an able man at home defending his homestead.  

One story told that involves the Walkers tells of the original daughter of John and Katherine Walker had a 14 year old son who was kidnapped by the Shawnee and taken to Ohio by chief Black Wolf.  In 1786, Black Wolf returned and killed 3 of the Walker children while the family was doing morning chores.  The father was then killed and the Shawnee continued inside the cabin to kill an old man who was residing with the Walkers.  They then used hatchets to kill the two large dogs  and took the remaining children, servant girl, and mother captive.  Of the two children inside the house who were captured, one was a mentally handicapped son and one an infant who were both killed the next day because they were too troublesome.  The mother and servant girls were tied to stakes in preparation to be burned alive, but saved by a compassionate Shawnee squaw.  They became the only survivors of the Appalachian Valley Massacre.

The last Walker to be lost in the Forest Wars was a cousin, Elizabeth in the early 1790s.  She was kidnapped as a young girl by the Creek Indians and never heard from again.

Next time -Generations of fighting end...