The plaque shown in the picture on the right, is set in a large stone Historical Marker
on the National Road that overlooks Wheeling, West Virginia
Samuel McColloch, at a very early age distinguished himself as a bold
and efficient borderer. As an Indian fighter he had no
superior. He seemed to track the wily red man with a
sagacity as remarkable as his efforts were successful. He
was almost constantly engaged in excursions against the
enemy, or "scouting" for the security of the
settlements. It was mainly to these energetic operations
that the frontier was so often saved from savage
depredation, and by cutting off their retreat, attacking
their hunting camps, and annoying them in various other
ways, he rendered himself so great an object of fear and
hatred. For these they marked him and vowed sleepless
vengeance against his name. To many of the savages these
brothers were personally known, and were objects of intense
fear and hate. Numerous artifices were employed to capture
them; their enemies anticipating, in such an event, the
privilege of satiating their vindictive malice, by the
infliction of a lingering and cruel death. Of this design,
on the part of the Indians, the brothers were aware; and in
their almost miraculous preservation, in various contests
with them, gratefully acknowledged the interposition of an
invisible power in their behalf.
In consideration of his many very efficient services,
Samuel MCCOLLOCH was commissioned Major in 1775.
While the enemy was pressing the siege of Wheeling, in
1777, Major Samuel MCCOLLOCH, at the head of forty mounted
men, from Short creek, made their appearance in front of the
fort, the gates of which were joyfully thrown open.
Simultaneously with the appearance of MCCOLLOCH'S men,
re-appeared the enemy, and a rush was made to cut off the
entrance of some of the party. All, however, succeeding in
getting in except the gallant Major, who, anxious for the
safety of his men, held back until his own chance was
entirely cut off. Finding himself surrounded by savages, he
rode at full speed in the direction of the hill.
The enemy, with exulting yells, followed close in
pursuit, not doubting they would capture one whom of all
other men, they preferred to wreak their vengeance upon. The
Indians drove the gallant Major to the summit of a lofty
hill, which overhangs the present city of Wheeling. Knowing
their relentless hostility toward himself, he strained every
muscle of his noble steed to gain the summit, and then
escape along the brow in the direction of Van Metre's fort.
At length he attained the top, and galloping ahead of his
pursuers, rejoiced at his lucky escape. As he gained a point
on the hill near where the Cumberland Road now crosses, what
should he suddenly encounter but a considerable body of
Indians, who were just returning from a plundering excursion
among the settlements.
In an instant, he comprehended the full extent of his
danger. Escape seemed out of the question, either in the
direction of Short creek or back to the bottom. A fierce and
revengeful foe completely hemmed him in, cutting off every
chance of successful retreat or escape. What was to be done?
Fall into their hands, and share the most refined torture
savage ingenuity could invent? That thought was
agony, and in an instant the bold soldier, preferring death
among the rocks and bramble to the knife and fagot of the
savage, determined to plunge over the precipice before him.
Without a moment's hesitation, for the savages were pressing
upon him, he firmly adjusted himself in the saddle, grasped
securely the bridle with his left hand, and supporting his
rifle in the right, pushed his unfaltering old horse over! A
plunge, a crash,-crackling timber and tumbling rocks were
all that the wondering savages could see or hear. They
looked chagrined but bewildered, one at another; and while
they inwardly regretted that the fire had been spared its
duty, they could not but greatly rejoice that their most
inveterate enemy was at length beyond the power of doing
further injury. But, lo! ere a single savage had recovered
from his amazement, what should they see but the
invulnerable major on his white steed, galloping across the
peninsula. Such was the feat of Major MCCOLLOCH, certainly
one of the most daring and successful ever attempted. The
place has become memorable as MCCOLLOCH'S leap, and will
remain, so long as the hill stands, and the recollections of
the past have a place in the hearts of the people.
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