Elk Creek in Grayson County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Caty Sage

Photographed By J. J. Prats, May 26, 2013

1. Caty Sage Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Nearby was the home of James and Lovice Sage, whose five-year-old daughter Caty was abducted in 1792. Fifty–six years later her brother Charles located her in eastern Kansas after a Wyandots Indian told him that a woman named Yourowquains, with similar features to his, lived with the Wyandots. Another brother, Samuel, investigated and confirmed that she was their sister. Through an interpreter, Yourowquains told them that a “white man” abducted her. She lived with the Cherokee, before they gave her as a present to the Wyandots, who adopted her. She had three Wyandot husbands and died in Jan. 1853.

Erected 2000 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number KC-10.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers • Women. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources series list. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1853.

Location. 36° 43.119′ N, 81° 10.085′ W. Marker is in Elk Creek, Virginia, in Grayson County

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. Marker is at the intersection of Elk Creek Parkway (U.S. 21) and Comers Rock Road (County Route 658), on the right when traveling south on Elk Creek Parkway. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Elk Creek VA 24326, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Peyton Guyn Hale (approx. 1.1 miles away); Wythe County / Grayson County (approx. 3.2 miles away); First Court of Grayson County (approx. 6.4 miles away); Grayson's First Muster Roll While Part of Montgomery County, VA (approx. 6.7 miles away); The G.A.T.E. Center (approx. 6.7 miles away); Grayson County Courthouse (approx. 6.7 miles away); Grayson County Confederate Monument (approx. 6.7 miles away); Grayson County War Memorial (approx. 6.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Elk Creek.

Also see . . . Yourowquains: A Wyandot Indian Queen. Amazon.com listing for 1992 book by Bill Bland. “Historical biography of Caty Sage, a five year old white girl, kidnapped from her home in Elk Creek, Virginia in 1792. She was carried on horseback to a Cherokee Indian camp at Trade, Tennessee, where she was traded by her kidnappers to a Cherokee tribe. Four days after her capture, she was taken on a grueling 600 mile trek north which included a wild canoe ride down the New and Kanawha Rivers. In Ohio she was adopted by Wyandot Indians and

Photographed By J. J. Prats, May 26, 2013

2. Caty Sage Marker

named “Yourowquains.” At seventeen she married Tarhe, Chief of the Wyandots. At age twenty-eight she became Tarhe’s widow. Under an 1817 treaty with the U.S. Government, Caty received a large tract of Ohio land. She later married Tauyaurontoyou, a noble Wyandot warrior and leader who too became a chief. Tauyaurontoyou became a licensed Methodist minister and famous preacher under his translated name, “Between-the-Logs.” Following the death of Between-the-Logs, Caty married an Indian warrior named Frost. Two years later she was again widowed. In 1843 Caty and her Wyandot Tribe were driven out of Ohio by relentless U.S. Government pressure urged on by land-hungry whites. She and her fellow Wyandots traveled in wagons across Ohio and by steamboats from Ohio to Kansas. In Kansas, Caty built a new life among many hardships. Trauma had erased her childhood memory, but after a life as an Indian with much persecution by whites, one day in 1848 fate put her face-to-face with a brother she had never met. At last Yourowquains learned her own identity; and her aged mother learned her little golden-haired daughter’s fate.” (Submitted on June 8, 2013.) This website may earn income if you use this link to make a purchase on Amazon.com.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 7, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 8, 2013, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 6,325 times since then and 4,888 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 8, 2013, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.