Indian Attack (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Indian Attack
To the east, on Dogue Neck, "Certain Unknown Indians" attacked the house of Thomas Barton about 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, 16 June 1700, killing eight persons with "arrowes & Wooden Tommahawkes." The neighboring Piscataway Indians denied making the attack and blamed the Wittowees. The Indians involved probably were angered by colonial encroachment on their land and may have been encouraged by the French. Lt. Col. George Mason wrote Gov. Francis Nicholson that "this murder was the Horrablest that ever was" in present-day Fairfax Co., then part of Stafford Co. Mason increased the number of militia patrols, but the Indians escaped.

Erected 1999 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number E-80.)


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More about this marker.
The 1985 Edition of Margaret T. Peters's A Guidebook to Virginia Historical Markers lists a marker with this same number located on Richmond Highway (U.S. 1) but four miles north, at Fort Belvoir. The guidebook indicates that the marker was missing at that time, but prints the title and text of the original marker, which is a bit different than what is on this marker today: INDIAN MASSACRE. To the east, in Dogue Neck, Piscataway Indians attacked the house of Thomas Barton, killing eight persons, June 16, 1700. George Mason (2nd) described this as the "horriblest murder that ever was in Stafford."

Editor's Note:
The marker was originally standing at the intersection of Route 1 and Belvoir Road, where the Fremont fields are today and the Fort Belvoir Hospital is located. The GPS Coordinates are 38.712061, -77.143260