Indian Will

Indian Will was a well-known Native American who lived in a former settlement of the Shawnee Indians at the site of present day Cumberland, Maryland in the 18th century. This site was abandoned by the Shawnee's prior to the first white settlers arriving in the region, however 'Indian Will' stayed behind living in a hut on the mountain side. Will was a local legend in his time, and he is even credited with the original ownership of the present day Wills Creek and Wills Mountain.

According to Lowdermilk, Will was a full blooded Indian, who with family and a few followers remained in the land of their forefathers despite the approach of the white man did not remove their wigwams, but received their strange visitors with a kindly greeting, and lived in intimate friendship with them'.

Will's home was in a small cove about three miles (5 km) from the mouth of the stream that bears his name. It was close to the rocky formation west of Cumberland known as the 'Devil's ladder'. It is also recorded that he had an Indian friend known as Eve. We could find no further reference to her.

Governor Bladen of Maryland persuaded Col. Thomas Cresap to survey the land in that area named 'Will's Town'. Apparently Will's claims to ownership of this land were respected. When the early explorers decided to build a cabin here they never failed to give the Indian some trifle as a pretended compensation for the land.

As more cabins were built, the place customarily became known as Will's Creek' as early as 1728. However, on a map drawn in 1751, Wills Creek is marked as 'Caructucue Creek', and was known by no other name amongst the Indians. Over the years the original name for this stream, which originates in Bedford County, has been lost. The creek and mountain, which begins at Cumberland and ends a few miles north west of Bedford, have been known as Wills Creek and Wills Mountain.

There seems to be some variation in the date of Will's death. Loudermilk's History states 'the date of death is not definitely known, but that event is supposed to have occurred about the close of the Revolutionary War or shortly thereafter'. In our own history of Bedford County, it is stated that sometime around 1758 a group of Indians made a raid in the section north east of Wills Creek in an area which we now know as Southampton Township in Bedford County. A number of settlers were massacred and a number of women and children taken prisoner. Apparently one member of this raiding party was Will. The Indians with their prisoners stopped for a short time at the southern tip of Wills Mountain to rest and to hold council.

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