07/07/2024
"A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT"
The Potomac and Shenandoah
1500-1700
When settlers first came over the mountains into the Shenandoah valley in the early 1700s, they found that the land was still the hunting ground of the Iroquois - which were called the Six Nations. This included the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas and later the Tuscaroras.
The two main rivers, now known as the Potomac and Shenandoah, seemed to have had many Native American variances in name. In the early 1700s, the western Potomac River was known as “Cohongoroota” or the “River of Geese” and its head waters were known as the “Quiriough” or its alias “Patawomeck” or “Potowmack”. The South Branch would be called “Wappacomo” by the Algonquin. Once Lord Fairfax claimed this land for himself, the maps he had drawn would keep the early names and contend that the “Wappacomo” was indeed the south branch of the “Cohongoroota” or (Potomac). In these early years, the river from Harper’s Ferry running eastward had many names, and the pronunciations were quite strange to early white settlers. The active American name “Quiriough” was common but hard to pronounce...the settlers preferred the more common “Pawtaw-Moke”, “Pot-O-Make”, “Potomake”, or “Po-to-moke”...it officially became the “Potomac” in 1931.
The “Sherando” had many names before it settled on the Shenandoah. It was called “Shendow”, “Sherundo”, and “Shennandow”. The earliest records refer to the Shenandoah River valley as “Gerundo”.
Native Americans tended to encompass rivers and valleys and areas with one full name, and the “Gerundo” encompassed a hunting ground that was vast and vital to their lives and to their existence. In the early days, the Iroquois chief “Gherundo” or “Sherando” was at war with the Powhatan Chief “Opeck-enough” or “Opechancanough” who was infringing on the hunting grounds in the valley. A band from each tribe had been hunting in the valley when they came upon each other. Opeck-enough returned to his village but left his son “Shee-Wa-a-nee” and a band of warriors to watch over their hunting grounds. It was not long until the main body of the Iroquois returned, and a battle ensued, and Gherundo drove the chief east of the mountains. The European settlers of the mid-1700’s found that the Shawnee were still using the “Opeck-enough” name for a small creek that would eventually become known as the Opequon.