In 1770, Joseph Van Meter, the elder, in company with three of the Zane brothers, removed with his family to the Ohio river, where the city of Wheeling now is. The Zane’s settled at the mouth of Wheeling Creek, while Mr. Van Meter [ Joseph] settled a few miles above, on Short Creek. Other settlements were commenced nearby soon afterward. Block houses, being works of prime necessity on the frontier at that day were erected at several places in the settlements, as some protection against the Indians, though seldom adequate when assailed by a strong party. Near to these, the settlers built their cabins, as far as convenient, such a plan being considered as some protection against surprise attacks by small parties of Indians.

In 1774, a small military work was erected under British authority, on the south bank of the Ohio River, not far above the mouth of Wheeling creek. The plan upon which it was built was said to have been drawn by the celebrated Gen. George Rogers Clark. It was called at first Fort Fincastle, the name of the county in which it was located, but, two years later, 1776, the name was changed to Ft. Henry, from the celebrated Patrick Henry, then governor of the state of Virginia. This was the only fort between Pittsburg and the south of the Great Kanawha, which was at that time considered tenable against a force of any great number. A stockade was in process of construction near West Liberty, on short creek, in September 1777, but was not yet complete when the Indians attacked Ft. Henry, late in September of that year. This stockade was intended to serve the double purpose of protecting the lives and property of the settlers and as county buildings, West Liberty at that time being the seat of justice for Ohio County.

This rude structure was named Van Meter’s fort, from Joseph Van Meter, the elder. Late in September 1777, notice was given the settlers at and in the neighborhood where Wheeling now stands that a large Indian army was collecting on the Sandusky river to march against Ft. Henry and the settlements in the neighborhood. This friendly warning is said to have been sent by the brother of the Zane’s, who had taken up his residence with the Indians, had adopted their dress and mode of living, and had married an Indian woman.

The messenger had scarcely brought the direful news to the garrison before the Indians were before the walls of the fort, under the leadership of the renegade white man, Simon Girty. [Simon Girty was an American frontiersman and one of American history’s infamous renegades, defected to the British during the Revolution and led Indian raids on his own people.]

The Indians had gone to and crossed the Ohio unperceived, though a considerable force of the most capable and experienced scouts and Indian fighters on the frontier had been sent out into the woods on the north side of the Ohio, through which the enemy was expected to come, to discover, if possible, the force of the latter, and the time at which they would probably arrive. Girty, however, succeeded in bringing his warriors before the very walls of the fort before his approach was discovered.

The force of the Indians was computed at from four to five hundred men. The entire force of the garrison and settlers was forty-two, all told, many of whom were old men and boys. During the first night after the arrival of the Indians, the settlers and their families either took shelter in the fort or were brought in.

The next morning, the Indians succeeded in killing one of the men belonging to the garrison, fourteen men, sent out in pursuit of a small party of Indians, were surrounded, twelve of them were killed and one badly wounded. Twelve volunteers from the fort were sent to the relief of the first party, but were surrounded and eight of them killed. Two or three men were severely wounded but were able to conceal themselves from the Indians, and came in or were brought in after the Indians withdrew. Not a man was killed or wounded inside the fort.

On the third day of the siege, forty mounted men from Short Creek and fourteen from Cross Creek arrived at the fort and were admitted. These timely reinforcements so discouraged the Indians that they raised the siege and engaged in killing the cattle and burning the cabins and fences of the settlers.

Two accounts are given of the part acted by Joseph Van Meter and his son, Morgan (who would have been about 12 years old at this time). One is that Joseph and his family took refuge in the fort without loss of time. The other is that father and son, on the second day of the siege, composed a part of the company of forty, who on hearing of the dangerous condition of the people and garrison in the fort, left the settlement on Short Creek, went to their relief, and were fortunate enough to be able to enter the fort without the loss of a man. Both accounts agree that Joseph and his son, Morgan, were in the fort while it was besieged by the Indians and participated in its defense. At one time during the siege, it is said, the rifles used by the men in the fort became so heated by the rapid fire as to become dangerous and, to some extent, useless, and recourse was then had to a lot of muskets, of which a sufficient number was found in the store house of the garrison. If this account be true—and it is credited in the history of the siege—it clearly shows that, if a party of the garrison was composed of old men and boys, they were at least acquainted with the use of the rifle.