unknown upheaval caused these people to migrate further east , into the tidewater . Archaeologists speculate that the growth of powerful nations to the north and west pushed them from the Piedmont . Settling along the tributaries of the Chesapeake , the former Piedmont inhabitants were likely the ancestors of the people encountered by European colonists in the 17th century .
Clues to their identity can be found in the records of early European visitors . In 1608 John Smith recorded meeting a group known as the Manahoac along the Rappahannock . Their territory extended northward through the Piedmont to the Potomac . These people spoke a Siouxian language similar to that of their allies , the Monocans of the James River valley . Together these nations were often at war with their Algonkian speaking neighbors to the east . As the 17th century wore on , they came under increased pressure from the Iroquoian nations to their north . During the Beaver Wars of the 17th century , the Haudenosaunee ( Iroquois ) waged war against their neighbors in order to monopolize the lucrative fur trade , and by the end of the century it appears that the Loudoun Valley was a “ no mans land ” caught between warring factions . War , disruption , and disease had reduced and scattered the Manahoac , and survivors were absorbed into other nearby nations .
Another people to make their mark on the Loudoun Valley were the Piscataway . A confederacy of Algonkian speaking peoples , the Piscataway lived along the tributaries of the southern Potomac in what is now southern Maryland .
Although their initial interactions with the English were friendly , increased European settlement , attacks from other Native nations , and disease drove many of the Piscataway out of the tidewater by the late 17 th century . Some settled temporarily on Heater ’ s Island , near Point of Rocks , at the end of the 17th century . In 1699 they were visited by Giles Vandercastle and Burr Harrison in the first recorded European / Native interaction in Loudoun County .
The two Europeans described seeing a palisaded fort 50 or 60 yards square , with 18 cabins within the walls and an additional nine outside . They counted approximately 70 men , women , and children present in the fort , but were told that many more were
Heater ’ s Island in the Potomac , including a depiction of a longhouse , from a 1707 map . ( Maryland Historical Trust ) out hunting . Judging by the number of cabins , Burr and Vandercastle estimated there were 80 or 90 “ bowmen ” capable of making war . The fort appeared to be well stocked with provisions , and the people there were using both traditional Native goods as well as objects imported from Europe .
Six years after their visit from Harrison and Vandercastle , the Piscataway at Heater ’ s Island were struck by illness . Their numbers were so reduced that by 1712 they had abandoned their settlement and moved north to join other refugee groups driven from the tidewater . The Piscataway appear in later 18th century documents from Pennsylvania , New York , and Ohio .
The experience of the Manahoac and Piscataway provides an important lesson in how we look at Native lands today . Native populations were not static , and migrations , war , and upheaval caused these populations to ebb and flow long before European contact . Many of the groups encountered by Europeans may have been relative newcomers to the area . With the coming of Europeans this process was accelerated , and many nations became refugees far from their ancestral lands .
With so little written evidence , the archaeological evidence is crucial to learning about these people . Archaeological excavations are a painstaking process , requiring an exacting level of detail and meticulous record keeping . The recovery of the artifacts them-
46 wander I fall • winter 2022