Because of its strategic location between powerful Indian nations , who alternately allied with the French or British as it suited them , plus its location through gaps into the Alleghenies further west , the area 's development was viewed with increasing apprehension by the French and their Indian allies . In July 1755 , during the French and Indian War , hostile Shawnee Indians equipped and armed by France attacked the frontier outpost at Draper 's Meadow , which then had around twenty pioneer settlers . About four settlers were killed in the attacks , and five were taken captive to Kentucky by the Shawnee , among them Mary Draper Ingles , who later escaped . The memorial to Draper 's Meadow massacre was dedicated on a bridge located near Duck Pond . By the end of the war , Draper 's Meadow was deserted
Draper 's Meadow massacre
Draper's Meadow massacre
Blacksburg, Virginia