By Dwight Williamson
I get quite a bit of information from folks all over this country in reference to some of the material produced weekly in this column. I have received numerous books, letters, pictures and other materials through the mail, as well as numerous comments and suggestions via the internet. On some occasions, I have also received telephone calls from folks across the nation, and in one case, from England.
One such person, a former Loganite, is Kenneth Singleton. Ken has sent me pictures and articles that in some way related to his beloved Logan County. I think it only fitting that today I convey the written material from two former friends and history lovers who now have passed on to their happy hunting grounds. I use the words “happy hunting grounds” because both were talented concerning archeology that pertained to the first inhabitants of Logan County.
Here, in words typed from an old typewriter, is the combined writing of Ron Moxley and Sam Rogers. The information is courtesy of Kenneth Singleton and titled “Logan’s Pre-History.”
No true history of the settlement of what is now Logan County, West Virginia would be complete and accurate without mentioning the prehistoric Native Indians who first visited this area over 11,000 years ago. The settlement of Logan County, as we know it today, began two hundred years ago this spring, in the year of 1794. (The article was written in 1994).
The 11,000 years prior to this, we consider as pre-history, in that no written records were left to tell the story of the first inhabitants of Logan County. Only through archeology have we been able to learn much about these pre-historic people who first stepped foot on Logan County soil.
The first 200 years of this pre-history period saw nomadic hunters come in search of big game animals, such as the Mastodon, which was a large animal, resembling an elephant, but much larger in size. Mastodons died out at the end of the first ice age. These hunters used a flint spear that had a thinning flute running from the base towards the tip. Several of these spear points have been found in Logan and surrounding counties. Also, a fossilized Mastodon tooth was found on Rockhouse Creek near Man High School.
During the next 9,000 years hunting groups continued to hunt, but for smaller game, such as elk and deer. The tools and weapons of bands of individuals have been found on ridge tops throughout the county. The shapes of the projectile points (what most people call arrowheads) changed through time (like car models change now). By comparing the shape to known examples that have been dated, we can determine when the artifacts were used.
About 25,000 years age (500 B.C.) a new culture that we call Mound Builders began to bury their dead in earthen or stone mounds. The Mound Builders lived in small villages and may have been the first people to live year-round in Logan County. A number of these mounds once existed in Logan County; however, most have been destroyed during the past 200 years.
We have found that at least two major villages existed within Logan County between the years 1400-1650 A.D. One village was located where the downtown section of Logan now stands. The other was on the flat land near Man Hospital and Man High School. These large villages could support over 500 people at any given time.
The villagers grew corn fields, hunted game, and lived here until something (maybe smallpox) caused them to abandon these villages by the mid 1600s. However, it was not unusual for early tribes to up and move for much lesser reasons.
From all indications, starting in the mid 1600s until the spring of 1794, no people lived in Logan County on a year-round basis. We know this period of time as the sacred hunting grounds era: an era which saw various tribes, especially the Shawnee, Cherokee, and Delaware use these mountains and valleys as their sacred hunting grounds.
Dwight Williamson is a retired magistrate in Logan County. He writes a weekly column for HD Media.
Published with permission.
Articles by Dwight Williamson on this site.
- “Boots” was anything but a normal coal miner
- 1916, 1917 were especially eventful years in Logan County
- A guardian angel from 1972
- A stringent look into the history of Logan County
- Alderson helped elevate Logan to greatness
- C.C. Chambers was one tough judge
- Changes in Logan during the year 1912
- City losing another historical structure
- Coal camp Christmas memories
- Death of the Hatfield brothers
- Dehue Company Store Closing
- Don Chafin and the Battle of Blair Mountain
- Early 1900s Logan was crime infused with soap opera
- Early Logan Co.: A mighty tough place to live
- Early Logan County was a ‘mess’
- Early Travel in Logan County
- English credited with discovering coal in Logan Co.
- Even without the vote, Logan women accomplished much
- Every building in downtown Logan has a story
- Finding Princess Aracoma
- Fires change course of Logan’s history
- Growing up with the Company Store
- Halloween escapades of the “Porch Sitters”
- Hatfield and Chafin clans played large role in Logan history
- History before our eyes
- Holiday Memories from the Shegon Inn
- Life was more free when tram roads crossed the mountains
- Logan Co. people with national interest
- Logan County is rich with Native American history
- Logan High School almost missed being on the island
- Logan’s Boulevard has a storied history
- Monumental efforts gave us our ‘Doughboy’
- Recalling one of the worst floods in Logan
- Recollections of old stores and “filling” stations
- Remembering some of the coal camp communities
- Remembering the Community of Holden 22
- Some find their life goals at home; others move away
- Spiritually reuniting Logan’s pioneer couple
- The Civil War in Logan County
- The Creation of Logan County
- The end the Hatfield political dominance
- The historic cemetery in Logan
- The journey of Logan’s Woman’s Club
- The legendary Don Chafin
- The little town at the mouth of Buffalo Creek
- The man responsible for the creation of Mingo County
- The Midelburg family history in Logan
- The murder of Mamie Thurman remains a mystery
- The murderous ’30s
- The old custom of ‘funeralizing’
- The porch sitters
- Today’s kids don’t know the freedom we had