Near this site stood a fortified dwelling that served as shelter during warfare between European colonists and Native Americans. In 1756, Mary Draper Ingles, Mrs. William Ingles, came here for protection after escaping captivity by the Shawnee Indians. She had been taken prisoner on 30 July 1755 during an attack on the Draper's Meadows settlement in Montgomery County near present-day Blacksburg. Her forced march to the Ohio Indian towns, her escape, and her long trek back home became part of the folklore of frontier Virginia. During the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1763, many settlers abandoned this area and fled eastward.