island lies on the Ohio, opposite the city, and is crossed by the national road. Wheeling is the largest town in western Virginia.

In 1810 its population was 914; in 1820, 1,567; 1830, 5,221; 1840, 7,885. From the advantages of its location, &c., Wheeling must eventually be a place of great business. The vast multitude of emigrants constantly passing through it to the far west, increase its trade, and impart to it an air of bustle and business peculiarly animating.

In 1769, (says Withers,) Col. Ebenezer Zane, his brothers Silas and Jonathan, with some others from the south branch of the Potomac, visited the Ohio for the purpose of making improvements, and severally proceeded to select positions for their future residence. They chose for their residence the site now occupied by the city of Wheeling, and having made the requisite preparations returned to their former homes, and brought out their families the ensuing year. The Zanes were men of enterprise, tempered with prudence, and directed by sound judgment. To the bravery and good conduct of these three brothers, the Wheeling settlement was mainly indebted for its security and preservation during the war of the revolution. Soon after the settlement of this place, other settlements were made at different points, both above and below Wheeling, and the country on Buffalo, Short, and Grave creeks.

"A very intelligent merchant of this city describes, that in very early time, and doubtless much anterior to that mentioned above, a circumstance took place which presents the strongest probability of the first notice of this spot by a white man, and the best data demonstrative of the circumstance from which the name of Wheeling was conferred upon this city. A European gentleman in the capacity of a Catholic priest, direct from Europe, of the name of Wheelan, which was his orthography of the name, who on a missionary excursion through the United States, among the aborigines of this country, on descending the Ohio River, pitched his encampment at the mouth of the present well-known Wheeling creek, in order for the discharge of his missionary duties there, among the red men of the forest. After a few months stay, he proceeded down the river, and left a name behind him, which will distinguish this celebrated spot till time shall be no longer. The founders of the city changed its orthography, since which it is written Wheeling."-Bowen's Directory of Wheeling for 1839.

It is stated in a communication to the American Pioneer by Mr. Jno. White, that Wheeling was originally called Weeling, which signifies the place of a head. The following tradition, explanatory of this, was obtained from Mr. John Brittle, who was taken prisoner by the Delawares, lived with them five years, and acquired their language. "In the earliest period of the settlement of Pennsylvania, some white settlers descended the Ohio River in a boat, and stopping at the mouth of Wheeling creek, were killed by the Delawares. The savages cut off the head of one of their victims, and placing it on a pole, with the face towards the river, called the spot Weeling. The Indians informed Mr. Brittle that the head was placed there to guard the river; I presume, to guard the camp from the incursions of the whites. Mr. Brittle said, that if an Indian were asked, after shooting a deer or a bear, where he had hit the animal, I's answer-if in the head-would be, 'woceling.'"

The view shows Wheeling as it appears from an eminence on the Ohio side of the river, about a mile and a half below the central part of the town. Wheeling Island is seen on the left, and above it, on the hills in the distance, the National Road.

A traveller in this region in 1802, thus describes Wheeling as it was then :

Wheeling, situated on one of the high banks of the Ohio, was not in existence 12 years ago. At present it contains about 70 houses, built of planks, which, as in all the rising towns of the United States, are separated by an interval of several toises. This little town is confined by a long hill, from a hundred and eighty to two hundred toises in height, the base of which is not further from the river than two hundred toises. In this interval the houses are built; they form only one street, having one road in the middle. * * Here are 12 or 15 well-provided stores, from which the inhabitants for 20 miles round are supplied. This small town also participates in the exportation trade carried on between Pittsburg and the western country. Several of the traders of Philadelphia prefer sending their merchandise here, although it is a day's journey further; but this slight inconvenience is amply compensated by the advantage they derive, in avoiding the long circuit made by the Ohio on quitting Pittsburg, in which the very numerous shallows and the want of rapidity in the current during the summer, retard the navigation.

At Wheeling we lodged with Capt. Reymer, who keeps a tavern at the sign of the Wagon, and takes boarders for two piasters [$2] a week. The living is very good at his house for this money, for provisions are not dear here. Twelve fowls are sold for a piaster, [$1,] and a quintal [100 weight] of flour was not worth more than a piaster and a half.

The most important event in the history of Wheeling, was the siege of Fort Henry, at the mouth of Wheeling creek, in September, 1777. The bravery and perseverance of the little band who defended it against more than thirty times their number of savages, led on by the notorious Simon Girty, was such as to rank it among the most memorable events of border warfare. An account of this siege we abridge from the communication of Mr. George S. M. Kiernan, in the American Pioneer:

Fort Henry stood immediately on the left bank of the Ohio, about a quarter of a mile above Wheeling creek. It is said to have been planned by Gen. George Rogers Clarke, and was constructed under the superintendence of Ebenezer Zane and John Caldwell. It was originally called Fort Fincastle, and was a place of refuge for the settlers in Dunmore's war. The name was afterwards changed to Fort Henry, in honor of Patrick Henry. The fort was built on open ground, and covered a space of about three-quarters of an acre. It was a parallelogram, having a block-house at each corner, with lines of stout pickets, about eight feet high, extending from one block-house to another. Within the enclosure were a storehouse, barrack-rooms, garrison-well, and a number of cabins for the use of families. The principal entrance was through a gateway on the eastern side of the fort, next to the then straggling village of Wheeling, consisting of about 25 log-houses.

The savages, variously estimated at from 380 to 500 warriors, having been abundantly supplied with arms and provisions by the British governor, Hamilton, at Detroit, and led on by Girty, were brought before the walls of Fort Henry before Col. Shepherd, the commandant, knew of their real design. Some symptoms of their propinquity having been discovered, the settlers in the vicinity had, the night previous, sought shelter within the fort.

The garrison numbered only 42 fighting men, all told, counting those advanced in years as well as those who were mere boys. A portion of them were skilled in Indian warfare, and all were excellent marksmen. The storehouse was amply supplied with muskets, but was sadly deficient in ammunition.

The next morning Col. Shepherd dispatched a man, accompanied by a negro, on an errand a short distance from the fort. The white man was brought to the ground by a blow from the firelock of an Indian; but the negro escaped back into the fort, and gave intelligence that they had been waylaid by a party of Indians in a cornfield.

As soon as the negro related his story, the colonel dispatched Captain Samuel Mason, with fourteen men, to dislodge the Indians from the field. Captain Mason with his party marched through the field, and arrived almost on the bank of the creek without finding the Indians, and had already commenced a retrograde movement when he was suddenly and furiously assailed in front, flank, and rear, by the whole of Girty's

army. The captain rallied his men from the confusion produced by this unexpected demonstration of the enemy, and instantly comprehending the situation in which he was placed, gallantly took the lead, and hewed a passage through the savage phalanx that opposed him. In this desperate conflict more than half the little band were slain, and their leader severely wounded. Intent on retreating back to the fort, Mason pressed rapidly on with the remnant of his command, the Indians following closely in pursuit. One by one these devoted soldiers fell at the crack of the enemy's rifle. An Indian who eagerly pursued Captain Mason, at length overtook him; and to make sure his prey, fired at him from the distance of five paces; but the shot, although it took effect, did not disable the captain, who immediately turned about, and hurling his gun at the head of his pursuer, felled him to the earth. The fearlessness with which this act was performed caused an involuntary dispersion of the gang of Indians who led the pursuit ; and Mason, whose extreme exhaustion of physical powers prevented him from reaching the fort, was fortunate enough to hide himself in a pile of fallen timber, where he was compelled to remain to the end of the siege. Only two of his men survived the skirmish, and they, like their leader, owed their safety to the heaps of logs and brush that abounded in the cornfield.

As soon as the critical situation of Captain Mason became known at the fort, Captain Ogle, with twelve volunteers from the garrison, sallied forth to cover his retreat. This noble, self-devoted band, in their eagerness to press forward to the relief of their suffering fellow-soldiers, fell into an ambuscade, and two-thirds of their number were slain upon the spot. Sergeant Jacob Ogle, though mortally wounded, managed to escape with two soldiers into the woods, while Captain Ogle escaped in another direction, and found a place of concealment, which, like his brother officer, Captain Mason, he was obliged to keep as long as the siege continued. Immediately after the departure of Captain Ogle's command, three new volunteers left the garrison to overtake and reinforce him. These men, however, did not reach the cornfield until after the bloody scenes had been enacted, and barely found time to return to the fort before the Indian host appeared before it. The enemy advanced in two ranks, in open order, their left flank reaching to the river bank, and their right extending into the woods as far as the eye could reach. As the three volunteers were about to enter the gate, a few random shots were fired at them, and instantly a loud whoop arose on the enemy's left flank, which passed as if by concert, along the line to the extreme right, until the welkin was filled with a chorus of the most wild and startling character. This salute was responded to by a few well-directed rifle-shots from the lower block-houses, which produced a manifest confusion in the ranks of the besiegers. They discontinued their shouting and retired a few paces, probably to await the coming up of their right flank, which, it would seem, had been directed to make a general sweep of the bottom, and then approach the stockade on the eastern side.

At this moment the garrison of Fort Henry numbered no more than twelve men and boys. The fortunes of the day, so far, had been fearfully against them; two of their best officers and more than two-thirds of their original force were missing. The exact fate of their comrades was unknown to them, but they had every reason to apprehend that they had been cut to pieces. Still they were not dismayed; their mothers, sisters, wives, and children, were assembled around them; they had a sacred charge to protect, and they resolved to fight to the last extremity, and confidently trusted in Heaven for the successful issue of the combat.

When the enemy's right flank came up, Girty changed his order of attack. Parties of Indians were placed in such of the village houses as commanded a view of the blockhouses; a strong body occupied the yard of Ebenezer Zane, about fifty yards from the fort, using a paling-fence as a cover, while the greater part were posted under cover in the edge of the cornfield, to act offensively or serve as a corps of reserve, as occasion might require. These dispositions having been made, Girty, with a white flag in his hand, appeared at the window of a cabin, and demanded the surrender of the garrison in the name of his Britannic majesty. He read the proclamation of Governor Hamilton, and promised them protection if they would lay down their arms and swear allegiance to the British crown. He warned them to submit peaceably, and admitted his inability to restrain the passions of his warriors when they once became excited with the strife of battle. Colonel Shepherd promptly told him in reply, that the garrison would never surrender to him, and that he could only obtain possession of the fort when there remained no longer an American soldier to defend it. Girty renewed his proposition, but before he finished his harangue, a thoughtless youth in one of the block-houses fired a gun at the speaker, and brought the conference to an abrupt termination. Girty dis