 Their wagon was disabled while crossing Conococheague Creek near Fort Loudoun, so John Cowan traded his horses and broken wagon to a Tuscarora chief for the land that is now known at Cowans Gap.Cowan received a smoking pipe and tomahawk rights, which entailed marking a large chestnut tree on his property with three slashes, as a sign of peace with the Tuscarora.John Cowan secured a deed for the land from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1785.