Bulltown is an extinct town in Braxton County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, United States. The

GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

classifies it as a populated place.

Geography

Bulltown is located at (38.788710 -80.566480). It is a part of the

Little Kanawha River The Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, 169 mi (269 km) long,Gilchrist-Stalnaker, Joy Gregoire. 2006. "Little Kanawha River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virgi ...

Valley

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

. Bulltown Historical District contains the

Burnsville Lake Burnsville Lake is both a recreational and flood control reservoir on Little Kanawha River located southeast of Burnsville in Braxton County, West Virginia. Burnsville Lake was authorized by the U.S. Congress in the Flood Control Act of 1938. Co ...

Wildlife Management Area in which Bulltown sets. The district is a site of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

battle with seven Confederate graves and Union trenches with a Historic Center. The Weston-Gauley Bridge Turnpike Trail and the Bulltown public camping area sides this state lake in the park. The namesake is from the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Native American 'Chief Bull'.

Namesake

The house of

Teedyuscung Teedyuscung (c. 1700–1763) was known as "King of the Delawares". He worked to establish a permanent Lenape (Delaware) home in eastern Pennsylvania in the Lehigh, Susquehanna, and Delaware River valleys. Teedyuscung participated in the Treaty ...

, King of the Delawares, at

Wyoming, Pennsylvania Wyoming is a borough in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located north of Wilkes-Barre, along the Susquehanna River. The population was 3,097 as of the 2020 census. Etymology The name "Wyoming" de ...

was burned around him by white settlers on April 19, 1763. His son Captain Bull with a band of retaliating Delaware numbered about 135, some from the upper Ohio Valley of the earlier 1740s migration. They marauded through

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

killing about 50 settlers. In 1763, Chief Bull was caught and jailed. The band was given an option that Chief Bull be hanged or the band move from the region. Bull was released to lead his people away. A monument to Chief Teedyuscung stands in

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Chief Bull was known as 'Capt. Bull' also 'Honest John' and 'Brother Gideon'. In 1763 this band arrived at Frederick Ice's settlement on

Cheat River The Cheat River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the Uni ...

(

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as th ...

) Chief Bull and about 50 kindred had come from prison in the New York colony. They camped a few weeks there and then went up the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...

into a temporary camp at now

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in and county seat of Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Fairmont Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marion County, a ...

. The following Spring they moved again, this time settling near present Bulltown, WVa along this watershed of

. There they erected 20 cabins and a

council house A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

on the site now called Chief Bull's old camp. There they lived in peace with the pioneer settlers around the New River area until 1772 when a massacre legend becomes popular folklore. However, the following quote is historic documented, "The

Delawares The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

had a town on the little Kanawha, which

Simon Kenton Simon Kenton (aka "Simon Butler") (April 3, 1755 – April 29, 1836) was an American frontiersman and soldier in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. He was a friend of Daniel Boone, Simon Girty, Spencer Records, Thomas S. Hinde, Thomas Hinde, and ...

often visited. They went to the White River, 18 miles from the Wabash, & when Gen. Hamiliton was taken, they broke off & went to the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

."DRAPER, the Simon Kenton materials, Draper's Mss microfilm, WVa University. Of these and colonial assimilation, there are still some descendants living in West Virginia.

Bulltown Historic Area

The Bulltown Historic Area includes the 1863 battlefield of the

Battle of Bulltown The Battle of Bulltown was a small skirmish fought during the American Civil War near Bulltown in Braxton County, West Virginia on October 13, 1863. Background In the fall of 1863, William Lowther Jackson, the cousin of "Stonewall" Jackson, l ...

, a visitor center with exhibits about the town and the battle, and several 19th century log homes and other structures. Most of the buildings were moved by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to the site when

was created. The

Cunningham House and Outbuildings Cunningham House and Outbuildings, also known as Cunningham Farm, is a historic home located near Napier, Braxton County, West Virginia. The house dates to the 1830s, and is a two-story, log structure sided with white clapboards. Also located o ...

and

Union Civil War Fortification Union Civil War Fortification, also known as Bulltown Civil War Site, is a historic archaeological site located near Napier, Braxton County, West Virginia. The site relates to the American Civil War Battle of Bulltown, that took place on October 1 ...

were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984.

References

"CHIEF BULL, King of the Delawares, Many Descendants Living in the Monongahela Valley"
SOURCE: Now & Long Ago Times, Vol. III, Is. 12 (reprinted in HCPD Journal- pg. 283-4) * ''West Virginia Atlas'' & Gazetter by DeLorme (1997)

External links

Bulltown Historic Area
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers information and photos
Bulltown Historic Area
- West Virginia in the Civil War, includes a site map and house descriptions {{Authority control American Civil War sites in West Virginia Geography of Braxton County, West Virginia Ghost towns in West Virginia History museums in West Virginia American Civil War museums in West Virginia Museums in Braxton County, West Virginia Historic house museums in West Virginia Braxton County, West Virginia in the American Civil War