Conflict between the mostly British settlers and Native American peoples broke out during the French and Indian War. The British colonists constructed two fortifications to guard the South Branch Valley in the vicinity of Moorefield. Fort Buttermilk was erected in 1756 and garrisoned by Captain Thomas Waggoner's Virginia Regiment Company. A second fortress, Fort Pleasant, situated at Henry Van Meter's Farm at Old Fields, guarded the northern side of the valley. It was also garrisoned by Waggoner's Virginia Regiment Company. In the spring of 1756, soldiers from Forts Buttermilk and Pleasant clashed with Shawnee warriors under Bemino (also known as Killbuck) at the Battle of the Trough.
