Shaver's Mountain and Shaver's Fork namesake

A botched Indian raid on St. George resulted in the death of the namesake of the mountain and stream we know so well. Peter Shaver was a German immigrant, Revolutionary War soldier and credited with being the first settler in the rich and wide Tygart Valley. He settled there in 1772. He also kept a cabin near Collett Gap, north of the ghost lumber town of Gandy. This cabin was a hunting camp and hideout from the Indians.     Shawnees from Ohio would raid the settlements west of the Alleghenies with regularity. The fore mentioned raid on St. George resulted in the Tygart Valley massacre of April 10, 1781. Every settlement in the valley between present day Elkins and Huttonsville was destroyed. The settlers were either killed or driven east to safety. Just a few years after Randolph County was formed, the entire population was gone. Many fled  to the safety of Fort Westfall, now Beverly. Most were killed within sight of the safety of the walls. One was a woman named Baker, ironically enough, who refused to leave her house while she was baking some corn pone.     Peter Shaver, his wife and his brother were not at their cabin on Shaver's Run, near Valley Bend, at the time of the raid. They were visiting east. Returning that day Shaver rode ahead, always aware that Indians could be in the area. His wife and Brother caught up with him in time. He was found mutilated. His scalped and bloody body was laying across the path leading home. He is buried at his outpost cabin site near Collett Gap.