Page 170 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

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Copper/brass artifacts from Zekiah Fort.
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the threat to once again promote the idea that the Choptico and Nanjemoy ought to remove them- selves to Zekiah Fort “if they expect protection from the English.”76
Violence against the inhabitants of Zekiah Fort died down following a peace struck between the Piscataway, the northern Indians, and the Maryland government in 1685.77 Conflict came again in 1689, this time amongst the English themselves. In 1688 the “Glorious Revolution” was taking place in England with the corona- tion of the Protestant William III as king who deposed the Catholic King James II. This water- shed moment had a ripple effect in the Maryland colony, with Protestant forces gathering strength against the Calvert (Catholic) proprietary gov- ernment. In March of 1689, Baltimore’s deputy governors sent “ten or twelve men and Armes to goe to the piscattaway fort to desire the Indians to keep the fort till things were settled.”78
By late July/early August of 1689, Lord Baltimore ultimately lost control of the colony during the uprising of rebels led by John Coode. The rebels, or Protestant Associators as they pre- ferred to call themselves, seized control of the colony and took over government establishments and residences throughout the region.79 The Piscataway were likely perceived by the new
regime as being allies of Lord Baltimore. In the years following, the simmering conflict between the Piscataway and the English led to their aban- donment of the colony altogether.
By the 1690s, some Piscataway had moved back to their ancestral homeland along Piscat- away Creek. John Hawkins and William Hutchi- son of Prince George’s County recounted in 1697 that they had been living “neer the Piscattoway ffort for some years.”80 Throughout 1696 the Piscataway had begun relocating to Virginia. In 1697 James Stoddert who lived near the Anacos- tia River reported that some Piscataway main- tained cabins on his property,81 but by May of that year the Piscataway had withdrawn themselves to the mountains of Virginia.82
The location of Zekiah Fort was lost to his- tory in the centuries that followed, but remnants of its memory lived on in some small snippets. In 1883 Dr. Elmer R. Reynolds, a co-founder of the Anthropological Society of Washington, described a place he called “Indian Hill” as an “old Indian town...situated on the head waters of the Wicomico River, twenty-five miles from its junction with the Potomac.” In addition he also described “Bead Hill” as being nearby, which con- tained Italian glass beads of “red, white, blue, and green.”83