Native Tribes of Frederick County
by Richard D. L. Fulton
At least a half-dozen native tribes inhabited what would become Frederick County, either before or after European colonization.
But even before the existence of tribal culture, prehistoric nomadic people had frequently transversed the area thousands of years prior. However, this article will deal with the post-prehistoric people.
From some 20,000 to 30,000 years ago up to the 1700s, human occupation of the Americas is divided into three major periods of development.
Tribal Ancestry
The first people to traverse the Americas are classified as the Paleo-Indians—quite a misnomer, considering the fact that none of them had come from India.
The Paleo-Indians migrated to the Americas more than 10,000 years ago, which had included Paleo-Asians (via a “land-bridge” that led to Alaska), Paleo-Europeans (via a North Atlantic “land-bridge”), and Paleo-Polynesians (via primitive ocean-going vessels).
The “land bridges,” referenced above, occurred during the Ice Age, when oceans levels dropped as the result of the massive amount of water tied up in continental glaciers, exposing previously submerged land, which provided paths for inter-continental migrations.
The Archaic People (10,000-2,500 years ago), who appeared after the prehistoric cultures, were nomadic hunters and gatherers, as had been the Paleo-Indians. The difference between the Archaic and Paleo-Indians is based on weapon and tool development, and the fact that during the late Archaic, natives began to develop more permanent settlements.
The third division is termed the Woodlands culture, which occurred from around 1,500 years ago up until the first contact with European colonists, and was marked by the early development of agriculture, which included planting the first corn, squash, and gourds, among other crops.
Agriculture reduced the natives’ reliance of hunting and gathering, leading to even more permanent settlements and villages. It was during the Late Woodlands Period that the natives began using bows and arrows in place of spears (when the bow and arrows first appear is still a matter of debate).
Delaware Tribe
The Delaware Tribe, which also included the Lenape (also known as the Lenni Lenape), were primarily concentrated along the Delaware River Valley.
The Delaware people were known for their ability to solve issues that had developed amongst other tribes.
According to delawaretribe.org, the Delaware Tribe signed the first Indian treaty on September 17, 1778, with the fledgling United States Government. Nevertheless, “through war and peace, our ancestors had to continue to give up their lands and move westward,” abandoning their lands to the east.
Piscataway-Conoy Tribe
The Conoy Tribe itself was initially a member of the Piscataway. The Piscataway was created by the assemblage of several other tribes for the purpose of mutual protection and trade. The Conoy Tribe was the largest member tribe of the Piscataway, and so the assemblage became known as the Piscataway-Conoy Tribe.
When the first Europeans arrived, “the Piscataway-Conoy was the largest and most powerful tribal nation in the lands between the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River,” according to the National Park Service.
Apparently, the kingdom also sprawled into the “foothills of the Appalachians,” which would explain their settlements in what would eventually become Frederick County.
The Piscataway “kingdom” began to dissipate due to pressure placed upon them as the result of European colonization and attacks and incursions by the (now-considered extinct) Susquehannock people from the Susquehanna Valley.
Fracturing, due to these combined pressures, the various factions within that comprised the Piscataway splintered off, with the Conoy Tribe migrating primarily into Pennsylvania.
Seneca Tribe
The Seneca Tribe, members of the Iroquois Confederacy of Nations, settled in Frederick County around 2,000 years ago in permanent and/or temporary communities, hunting and fishing, in which they engaged along the Monocacy River, or as they called it, the “Monnockkesey.”
While the early members of the tribe were subsistence hunters and fishers, they subsequently relied heavily on agriculture, which included growing corn, beans, and squash.
According to sni.org, the Seneca were quite renowned for their diplomatic abilities and oratory skills. However, they were also considered skilled at warfare and were considered fierce adversaries.
The Seneca fought alongside the British forces during the American Revolution, and as a consequence of the outcome of the war, they were stripped of much of their lands and forced onto reservations in New York and Oklahoma.
Shawnee Tribe
The Shawnee Tribe was the southernmost member of the Algonquin tribes, which were generally more northern in habitat. The name Shawnee actually means (in Algonquin) “southerners.”
The Shawnee inhabited Frederick County initially before any European settlement and maintained a nomadic lifestyle, with settlements in the county during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Shawnee artifacts have been found near Urbana High School, which would suggest that those who settled in that area were more than likely concentrated in the area that would eventually become New Market, Kemptown, and Ijamsville, according to uhshawkeye.com.
The Maryland Shawnee were likely relocated following the defeat of the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh during the Tecumseh’s War (also known as Tecumseh’s Rebellion), which had been fought in Indiana.
The Shawnee were relocated to Oklahoma as the result, under the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
Susquehannock Tribe
The Susquehannock Tribe had lived predominantly in the Susquehanna River Valley in the early 1600s, but they also had settlements in Frederick County, especially in areas like Biggs Ford, Hughes Ford, and around the mouth of the Monocacy River.
In 1675, the tribal settlements were attacked by a joint-militia force comprised of Marylanders and Virginians, resulting in the Susquehannock members being forced to retreat north into Pennsylvania, thereby evacuating their settlements in Maryland.
The tribe is considered extinct today. The last members of the tribe, numbering around 20 members, were massacred in 1763 by a group of settlers in Lancaster County. The tribal members were reportedly unarmed when they were attacked.
Tuscarora Tribe
The Tuscarora Tribe is listed as having been one of the tribes with settlements in Frederick County, but their settlements there were relatively short-lived. An English map made in 1721 displays a Tuscarora village “at the mouth of the Monocacy River on the Frederick County side,” according to the National Park Service.
The Tuscarora were a tribe whose homelands had been located in the Carolinas. However, the defeat of the tribe in the Tuscarora Wars, which took place from September 19, 1711, to February 11, 1715, resulted in the tribe fleeing from the Carolinas.
Some 200 European settlers had been killed in the war, but the Tuscarora had sustained some 1,000 deaths. Only about 3,000 members of the tribe survived the battle.
The Tuscarora eventually made their way to the Great Lakes after retreating from the Carolinas, but a faction had settled in Frederick County, from the time of their defeat until sometime around 1721.
