Editing Shenandoah County, Virginia (section)

==History==
The [[Senedos]], possibly an Iroquoian group, are thought to have occupied the area at one time, until they were said to have been slaughtered by the [[Catawba people|Catawba]] in the latter 17th century. The name of the Valley, and of the county, is most likely connected with this [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] group. It has also been attributed to General [[George Washington]] naming it in honor of John [[Skenandoa]], an [[Oneida people|Oneida]] chief from New York who helped gain support of Oneida and Tuscarora warriors to aid the rebel colonists during the [[American Revolutionary War]].

[[Sir William Gooch, 1st Baronet|Colonial Governor Gooch]] formally purchased the entire Shenandoah Valley from the [[Iroquois Confederacy|Six Nations]] of the Iroquois by the [[Treaty of Lancaster]] in 1744. The Iroquois had controlled the valley as a hunting ground, but European settlement had begun by that time. During [[Pontiac's War]] (1763–1766), [[Shawnee]] efforts to repel the white intruders reached as far east as the current county.

The county was established in 1772 as 'Dunmore County' for [[Colonial Governor of Virginia|Virginia Colonial Governor]] [[John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore]]. [[Woodstock, Virginia|Woodstock]] was designated the [[county seat]]. Dunmore was Virginia's last royal governor, and was forced from office during the [[American Revolution]]. During the war (1778), the rebels renamed the county 'Shenandoah.'

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the [[Battle of New Market]] took place in the county on May 15, 1864.