Editing Berkeley County, West Virginia (section)

===Early settlers===
According to missionary reports, several thousand [[Hurons]] occupied present-day West Virginia, including the [[eastern panhandle]] region, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. During the 17th century, the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] (then consisting of the [[Mohawk Nation|Mohawk]], [[Onondaga people|Onondaga]], [[Cayuga people|Cayuga]], [[Oneida tribe|Oneida]], and [[Seneca tribe|Seneca]] tribes) drove the Hurons from the state. The Iroquois Confederacy was headquartered in [[New York (state)|New York]] and was not interested in occupying present-day West Virginia. Instead, they used it as a hunting ground during the spring and summer months.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

During the early 18th century, West Virginia's eastern panhandle region was inhabited by the [[Tuscarora (tribe)|Tuscarora]]. They eventually migrated northward into New York and, in 1712, became the sixth nation formally admitted into the Iroquois Confederacy. The eastern panhandle region was also used as a hunting ground by several other Indian tribes, including the [[Shawnee]] (then known as the Shawanese) who resided near present-day [[Winchester, Virginia]] and [[Moorefield, West Virginia]] until 1754 when they migrated into [[Ohio]]. The [[Mingo]], who resided in the [[Tygart Valley]] and along the [[Ohio River]] in present-day West Virginia's [[northern panhandle]] region, and the [[Delaware Tribe of Indians|Delaware]], who lived in present-day eastern [[Pennsylvania]], [[New Jersey]] and [[Delaware]], but had several autonomous settlements as far south as present-day [[Braxton County, West Virginia|Braxton County]], also used the area as a hunting ground.

Following the [[French and Indian War]], the Mingo retreated to their homes along the banks of the Ohio River and were rarely seen in the eastern panhandle region. Although the French and Indian War was over, many Indians continued to view the British as a threat to their sovereignty and continued to fight them. In the summer of 1763, [[Pontiac (Ottawa leader)|Pontiac]], an [[Ottawa]] chief, led raids on key British forts in the Great Lakes region. Shawnee chief Keigh-tugh-qua, also known as [[Cornstalk (Shawnee leader)|Cornstalk]], led similar attacks on western Virginia settlements, starting with attacks in present-day [[Greenbrier County, West Virginia|Greenbrier County]] and extending northward to [[Berkeley Springs, West Virginia|Berkeley Springs]], and into the northern [[Shenandoah Valley]]. By the end of July, Indians had destroyed or captured all British forts west of the Alleghenies except [[Fort Detroit]], [[Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)|Fort Pitt]], and [[Fort Niagara]]. The uprisings were ended on August 6, 1763, when British forces, under the command of Colonel [[Henry Bouquet]], defeated Delaware and Shawnee forces at [[Bushy Run]] in western Pennsylvania.

During the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783), the Mingo and Shawnee, headquartered at [[Chalahgawtha|Chillicothe]], allied themselves with the British. In 1777, a party of 350 Wyandots, Shawnees, and Mingos, armed by the British, attacked [[Fort Henry (Virginia)|Fort Henry]], near present-day Wheeling. Nearly half of the soldiers manning the fort were killed in the three-day assault. The Indians then left the area celebrating their victory. For the remainder of the war, smaller raiding parties of Mingo, Shawnee, and other Indian tribes repelled settlers throughout northern and eastern West Virginia. As a result, European settlement throughout present-day West Virginia, including the eastern panhandle, came to a virtual standstill until the war's conclusion.

Following the war, the Mingo and Shawnee, once again allied with the losing side, returned to their homes. As the number of settlers in present-day West Virginia began to grow, both the Mingo and Shawnee moved further inland, leaving their traditional hunting ground to the white settlers.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}