THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSE SHOE. Governor Spotswood and Others Start on an Expedition over the Blue Ridge Mountains—They Pass Through what is now Fredericksburg—They Join Others at Germanna, where they make Extensive Preparations—The Country Rough and the Woods Dense—Bears, Deer, Turkeys, Squirrels and Snakes Plentiful—The Summit of the Mountain Reached—The Sublime Scene—The Health of the King Drank and the Country Taken Possession of in His Name—The Shenandoah River, &c. Two years after the settlement of Germanna Governor Spotswood visited the place, in company with gentlemen and others who were to accompany him in his famous expedition over the Blue Ridge mountains, which has been the theme of the writers of song and story, and upon which has recently been founded a secret benevolent order. So much has been written about this expedition, in this country and in Europe, into which so much romance has been woven, and yet so little is known about it by the general public, at the expense of length and tediousness to the reader of the narrative, we propose to give John Fontaine’s[12] diary, written daily as they progressed on the journey, from the time he left Williamsburg with the Governor, until he returned to that city, that we may be thoroughly informed of all the particulars. The expedition was made in August and September, 1716, and the following is John Fontaine’s diary: Williamsburg, 20th August, 1716.—In the morning got my horses ready, and what baggage was necessary, and I waited on the 21st.—Fair weather. At ten we set out from Mr. Moore’s, and crossed the river of Mattapony, and continued on the road, and were on horseback till nine of the clock at night, before we came to Mr. Robert Beverley’s house where we were well entertained, and remained this night. 22nd.—At nine in the morning we set out from Mr. Beverley’s. The Governor left his chaise here, and mounted his horse. The weather fair, we continued on our journey until we came to Mr. Woodford’s where we lay, and were well entertained. This house lies on Rappahannock River ten miles below the falls. 23rd.—Here we remained all this day, and diverted ourselves and rested our horses. 24th.—In the morning, at seven, we mounted our horses and came to Austin Smith’s house[14] about ten, where we dined, and remained till about one of the clock, when we set out, and about nine of the clock we came to the German-town, where we rested that night—bad beds and indifferent entertainment. German-town, 25th.—After dinner we went to see the mines, but I could not observe that there was any good mine. The Germans pretend that it is a silver mine; we took some of the ore and endeavored to run it, but could get nothing out of it, and I am of opinion it will not come to anything, no, not as much as lead. Many of the gentlemen of the county are concerned in this work. We returned and to our hard beds. 26th.—At seven we got up, and several gentlemen of the country, 27th.—We got our tents in order, and our horses shod. About twelve I was taken with a violent headache and pains in all my bones, so that I was obliged to lie down, and was very bad that day. 28th.—About one in the morning I was taken with a violent fever, which abated about six at night, and I began to take the bark, and had one ounce divided into eight doses, and took two of them by ten of the clock that night. The fever abated, but I had great pains in my head and bones. 29th.—In the morning we got all things in readiness, and about 30th.—In the morning about seven of the clock, the trumpet sounded to awake all the company, and we got up. One Austin Smith, one of the gentlemen with us, having a fever, returned home. We had lain upon the ground under cover of our tents, and we found by the pains in our bones that we had not had good beds to lie upon. At nine in the morning, we sent our servants and baggage forward, and we remained, because two of the Governor’s horses had strayed. At half past two we got the horses, at three we mounted, and at half an hour after four, we came up with our baggage at a small river, three miles on the way, which we called Mine River, because there was an appearance of a silver mine by it. We made about three miles more, and came to another small river, which is at the foot of a small mountain, so we encamped here and called it Mountain Run, and our camp we called Todd’s Camp. We had good pasturage for our horses, and venison in abundance for ourselves which we roasted before the fire upon wooden forks, and so we went to bed in our tents. Made 6 miles this day. 31st.—At eight in the morning we set out from Mountain Run, and after going five miles we came upon the upper part of Rappahannoc River. One of the gentlemen and I, we kept on one side of the company about a mile, to have the better hunting. I saw a deer, and shot him from my horse, but the horse threw me a terrible fall and ran away; we ran after, and with a great deal of difficulty got him again; but we could not find the deer I had shot, and we lost ourselves, and it was two hours before we could come upon the track of our company. About five miles further we crossed the same river again, and two miles further we met with a large bear, which one of our company shot, and I got the skin. We 1st September.—At eight we mounted our horses, and made the first five miles of our way through a very pleasant plain, which lies where Rappahannock River forks. I saw there the largest timber, the finest and deepest mould, and the best grass that I ever did see.[16] We had some of our baggage put out of order, and our company dismounted, by hornets stinging the horses. This was some hindrance, and did a little damage, but afforded a great deal of diversion. We killed three bears this day, which exercised the horses as well as the men. We saw two foxes but did not pursue them; we killed several deer. About five of the clock, we came to a run of water at the foot of a hill, where we pitched our tents. We called the encampment Dr. Robinson’s Camp, and the river Blind Run. We had good pasturage for our horses, and every one was cook for himself. We made our beds with bushes as before. On this day we made 13 miles. 2nd.—At nine we were all on horseback and after riding about five miles we crossed Rappahannoc river,[17] almost at the head, where it is very small. We had a rugged way; we passed over a great many small runs of water, some of which were deep, and others very miry. Several of our company were dismounted, some were down with their horses, others under their horses, and some thrown off. We saw a bear running down a tree, but it being Sunday we did not endeavor to kill anything. We encamped at five by a small river we called White Oak River,[18] and called our Camp Taylor’s Camp. 3rd.—About eight we were on horseback, and about ten we came to a thicket, so tightly laced together, that we had a great deal of 4th.—We had two of our men sick with the measles, and one of our horses poisoned with a rattlesnake. We took the heaviest of our baggage, our tired horses, and the sick men, and made as convenient a lodge for them as we could, and left people to guard them, and hunt for them. We had finished this work by twelve, and so we went out. The sides of the mountains were so full of vines and briers, that We were forced to clear most of the way before us. We crossed one of the small mountains this side of the Appalachian, and from the top of it we had a fine view of the plains below. We were obliged to walk up the most of the way, there being an abundance of loose stones on the side of the hill. I killed a large rattlesnake here, and the other people killed three more. We made about four miles and so came to the side of James River, where a man may jump over it, and there we pitched our tents. As the people were lighting the fire, there came out of a large log of wood a prodigious snake, which they killed; so this camp was called Rattlesnake Camp, but it was otherwise called Brook’s Camp. 5th.—A fair day. At nine we were mounted; we were obliged to have axe-men to clear the way in some places. We followed the windings of James River, observing that it came from the very top of the mountains. We killed two rattlesnakes during our ascent. In some places it was very steep, in others it was so that we could ride up. About one of the clock we got to the top of the mountain; about four miles and a half, and we came to the very head spring of James River, where it runs no bigger than a man’s arm, from under a large stone. We drank King George’s health and all the Royal Family’s at the very top of the Appalachian mountains. About a musket-shot from the spring is another, which rises and runs down on the other side; it goes westward, and we thought we “Mary Washington House,” home of Mary, the Mother of Washington, and “Federal Hill,” home of Thomas Reade Rootes, Gov. Brooke, 6th.—We crossed the river, which we called Euphrates.[20] It is very deep; the main course of the water is North; it is fourscore yards wide in the narrowest part. We drank some healths on the other side, and returned; after which I went a swimming in it. We could not find any fordable place, except the one by which we crossed, and it was deep in several places. I got some grass hoppers and fished; and another and I, we caught a dish of fish, some perch, and a fish they called chub. The others went a hunting, and killed deer and turkeys. The Governor had graving irons, but could not grave anything, the stones were so hard, I graved my name on a tree by the river side; and the Governor buried a bottle with a paper enclosed, on which he writ that he took possession of this place in the name and for King George the First of England.[21] We had a I sent two of the rangers to look for my gun, which I dropped in the mountains; they found it, and brought it to me at night, and I gave them a pistole for their trouble. We called the highest mountain Mount George, and the one we crossed over Mount Spotswood. 7th.—At seven in the morning we mounted our horses, and parted with the rangers, who were to go further on, and we returned homewards; we repassed the mountains, and at five in the afternoon we came to Hospital Camp, where we left our sick men, and heavy baggage and we found all things well and safe. We camped here, and called it Captain Clouder’s Camp. 8th.—At nine we were all on horseback. We saw several bears and deer, and killed some wild turkeys. We encamped at the side of a run, and called the place Mason’s Camp. We had good forage for our horses, and we lay as usual. Made twenty miles this day. 9th.—We set out at nine of the clock, and before twelve we saw several bears, and killed three. One of them attacked one of our 10th.—At eight we were on horseback, and about ten, as we were going up a small hill, Mr. Beverley and his horse fell down, and they both rolled to the bottom; but there were no bones broken on either side. At twelve as we were crossing a run of water, Mr. Clouder fell in, so we called this place Clouder’s Run. At one we arrived at a large spring, where we dined and drank a bowl of punch. We called this Fontaine’s Spring. About two we got on horseback, and at four we reached Germanna. The Governor thanked the gentlemen for their assistance in the expedition. Mr. Mason left us here. I went at five to swim in the Rappahannock River, and returned to the town. 11th.—After breakfast all our company left us, excepting Dr. Robinson and Mr. Clouder. We walked all about the town, and the Governor settled his business with the Germans here, and accommodated the minister and the people, and then to bed. 12th.—After breakfast went a fishing in the Rappahannock, and took seven fish, which we had for dinner; after which Mr. Robinson and I, we endeavored to melt some ore in the Smith’s forge, but could get nothing out of it. Dr. Robinson’s and Mr. Clouder’s boys were taken violently ill with fever. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Clouder left us, and the boys remained behind. 13th.—About eight of the clock we mounted our horses, and went to the mine, where we took several pieces of ore; and at nine we set out from the mine, our servants having gone before; and about 14th.—At seven we sent our horses and baggage before us; and at ten we mounted our horses; we killed another snake, four feet nine inches long. At twelve we came to the church, where we met with Mr. Buckner, and remained till two, to settle some county business; then we mounted our horses, and saw several wild turkeys on the road; and at seven we reached Mr. Beverley’s house, which is on the head of the Mattapony River, where we were well entertained. My boy was taken with a violent fever, and very sick. 15th.—At seven my servant was some what better, and I sent him away with my horses, and about ten o’clock the Governor took his chaise, and I with him, and at twelve we came to a mill-dam, which we had great difficulty to get the chaise over. We got into it again, and continued on our way, and about five we arrived at Mr. Baylor’s, where we remained all night. 16th.—My servant was so sick, that I was obliged to leave him, and the Governor’s servants took care of my horses. At ten we sent the chaise over the Mattapony River, and it being Sunday, we went to church in King William County, where we heard a sermon from Mr. Monroe. After sermon we continued our journey until we came to Mr. West’s plantation, where Colonel Basset waited for the Governor with his pinnace, and other boats for his servants. We arrived at his house by five of the clock, and were nobly entertained. 17th.—At ten we left Colonel Basset’s, and at three we arrived at Williamsburg, where we dined together and went to my lodgings, and to bed, being well tired as well as my horses. I reckon that from Williamsburg to the Euphrates River is in all 219 miles, so that our journey, going and coming, has been in all 438 miles. |