Etta Belle Walker

“ They carried their products to market in heavy wagons, swapping their wild bees' honey, venison, grain, and hand-woven linen for the precious salt, sugar, iron and lead. Over this road came an ever increasing number of other pioneers to settle near those already living in the rich Valley. They brought their furniture, guns, and families and a most fervent respect for the priceless liberty to be found there. Liberty where one could worship God as one pleased. Liberty where one's children could share in the development and in a new country, full of opportunities. ”

“ I had thought that this circumstance might give to the whole a toyish effect; but the influence of 2,000 or 3,000 lights on these immense caverns is only such as to reveal the objects, without disturbing the solemn and sublime obscurity which sleeps on everything. Scarcely any scenes can awaken so many passions at once, and so deeply. Curiosity, apprehension, terror, surprise, admiration, and delight, by turns and together, arrest and possess you. ”

“ One may see a desk owned and used by Thomas Jefferson, a chair which belonged to James Monroe, a rare copy of an autographed letter from Mary Washington to her son George Washington, brass andirons, pewter-hooded candles, Betty lamp, immense iron key for a wine cellar, brass candle-sticks, iron candle snuffers, pewter ink-well, antique piano, high boy, needle-point sampler worked by a nine-year-old child, spinning wheel and reel, stage coach sign dated 1775, large early American desk, old iron cooking utensils used by slaves cooking by an open fireplace, and many other interesting things. ”

“ Gradually he became accustomed to turning around and was able to get many fine ones at various angles and of the massive supporting walls, the huge slabs of limestone and some of the foliage.
Natural Bridge is a monument to the patience of Old Mother Nature and her skill as an artist. Today, one wonders at the deep gorge—by night, with modern electrification, one is spellbound by its beauty—and when sweet music fills the glen with its symphonies one's soul is lifted to the Greatest Artist of all—to God in reverence and gratitude. ”

“ The visitor today will see a big white house on the road between Luray and Elkton, almost beneath the shadow of old Massanutten Mountain. He will see the marker which tells him that this house was built by the Miller family. Inside, the visitor will see priceless early American furniture. He will see rosewood and later Empire furniture, too, as other generations added to their heritage. But when one goes into the log cabin kitchen he will stand in reverence before a collection of early Dutch tables, chairs, platters, plates of Delft and pewter, spoons of the same ware. ”

“ The Story Teller of the Valley—Samuel Kercheval PIONEER LIFE
Samuel Kercheval as a boy saw many of the pioneer men and women who had cut their homes out of the wilderness. He never tired hearing of how they had left Germany, and later had come down from Pennsylvania into the Valley. He himself could remember many of the "Newcomers" who were themselves pioneers. He loved the stories of the forts, the Indian raids and the customs of the Germans and Scotch-Irish. ”

“ William made thirty thousand dollars a year out of his salt business and left a fortune to his many nieces and nephews.
Roanoke is the gateway through which the visitor continues down the famous Valley Pike, Route Eleven. From every curve in the road one sees the beauty of nature. One learns bits of early history from the numerous historic signs along the route—for every footstep of the brave pioneers was bitterly contested from here on.
These first settlers were "a remarkable race of people for intelligence, enterprise and hardy adventure." ”

“ There is a glamor attached to this Virginia school unique in the country. It comes not alone from the bright cadet uniforms, the parade grounds, the gray stone barracks and the esprit de corps evidenced there; part is kept alive by the hundreds of loyal alumni and friends whose devotion is unlimited. This "West Point of the South" maintains the traditions of the time of Stonewall Jackson and graduates young officers for the army and young men for every field of business. ”

“ Sometimes the blue haze from the Blue Ridge Mountains makes the sunlight turn to a golden mist. Clouds often cast huge moving shadows over the fields and forests below—and sometimes they shut out the patchwork entirely, leaving the visitor in a gray world, with only himself and the clouds below and above. ”

“ Polly Moore, a little girl of eight, was holding her baby sister who was screaming with fear. Martha told Polly to get under the board too, but she decided to stay with the baby.
Then the Indians burst down the door and lunged in. They took Mrs. Moore prisoner and four children, John, Polly, Jane, and Peggy. They took everything they fancied, then set the house on fire.
Poor Mrs. Moore saw the Indians kill her son because he was sick and could not keep up with them. They killed the baby because it cried so pitiously. They had to have their hands tied, as had James, and they, too, fasted. ”

“ While in the Valley of Virginia the young George Washington learned how to tell the age of various trees by the thickness of their bark. The older a tree is, the thicker the bark and it is much rougher and thicker on the north side of the tree. He learned to know the course of the winds and to get to the leeward of his game when out hunting for food or skins. ”

“ Raw-re-noke is an Indian word for money. The city of Roanoke was originally a land grant to Thomas Tosh, an old settler who came to "Big Lick" and settled there after King George II and King George III had granted him sixteen hundred acres of land along that fertile valley. "Big Lick" was a favorite spot for the wild game and for the Indians too, for there they found the salt so necessary to life itself. One of Tosh's daughters married General Andrew Lewis and became the mother of Major Andrew Lewis and Thomas Lewis. ”

“ The gardens, too, contain flowers that Betty Washington must have enjoyed—bushes of lilac, mock orange, and bridal wreath and beds of pansies, sweet william, phlox, verbena and lilies of the valley.
Kenmore, a background of those lives who helped so importantly to mould the destinies of our nation, vividly portrays the art and the culture of its time.
The Mary Washington House
There stands on the corner of Charles and Lewis Streets in Fredericksburg, Virginia, an unpretentious but charming little house. There is no spot in America more sacred. ”

“ Long before the coming of the white men, the Indians followed almost a natural trail, as they journeyed back and forth into the richest hunting grounds known anywhere in all their world. Along it they found the big elk, bear, buffalo, wolves, foxes, wild turkeys and smaller game. ”

“ A queen is selected to reign over the festivities, her maids are invited from surrounding sections of the country to participate in the parades and balls which are given during the days' programs. If you haven't been already, plan to attend an Apple Blossom Festival and see Virginia in one of her prettiest moods—with gay young ladies and bloom-filled orchards.
You know of the "Tom, Dick and Harry" trio of Winchester and its neighborhood, don't you? They are the world famous Byrd brothers, descendants of the founder of Richmond, Colonel William Byrd of Westover on the James. ”

“ Horseback riding is great sport for the Skyline guests who explore the various trails nearby.
The visitor may leave the drive at Panorama and go west down the mountain to Luray. Or he may go east from Panorama down a lovely road to Sperryville. Then on Route 211 he may motor north to Washington or, if he would like to go by way of Culpeper, Madison, Orange and Fredericksburg, he would find a rolling country and inviting roads to the west, south and east.
If the visitor would continue the drive to Swift Run Gap, he could go over the Spotswood Trail to Elkton and to the Valley beyond. ”

“ Though they reproved one without a smile, their eyes often expressed understanding and sympathy and the offending one felt the deep love which had moved the other to speak—always for the good of the offender. ”

“ Fredericksburg, fifty-five miles south of Washington and about the same distance north of Richmond, Virginia, on Route 1, rightly claims to be one of the most historic cities in the United States. Visitors who make a tour of the Valley of Virginia and the Skyline Drive may want to begin their trip here, for it serves as a hub for long or short visits to neighboring places of interest. From Fredericksburg one may drive to Culpeper, Sperryville and Panorama and enter the Skyline Drive at that point, or he may wish to go from Fredericksburg to Warrenton and thence to the Skyline Drive. ”

“ When Thomas Jefferson was an old man, he began to carry out his dream, one which he had had for a long time, to build a university. All his life he had loved to draw plans and he carefully made his own blueprints. He drew plans for lovely Monticello when he was twenty-eight years old. His friends came from far and near to get him to draw plans for their homes. Ashlawn, Montpelier and others are monuments to this master builder. He had his own ideas about educating the young men of Virginia. ”

“ Adam Miller was not only a good neighbor to his German friends but we are told they did not have much trouble with the Indians during the first years he lived in the Valley. However, he was a brave fighter during the Indian Wars and his record is given in Henning's Statutes. He lived through most of the Revolutionary War and no doubt longed to fight in behalf of the country which had given him the opportunity to develop it. ”

“ When he heard how the wolves were making havoc for the settlers in and around Abingdon, he came to get the rewards offered for their heads. He built himself a rude shack on White Top, and if one would read real adventure tales, let him read Wilbur Waters which relates many stirring ones.
Every summer during August a festival is held at White Top where mountain music is played and folk dances are held. John Powell, the noted Virginia composer, is especially active in the preservation of folk music and he has been instrumental in attracting people of influence to the celebration. ”

“ Kercheval tells us how difficult it often was for the farmer to retain all of his crops. There were so many animals, like the squirrels and raccoons, which liked their grains. Storms would come and huge trees would fall on their fences, letting their horses and cattle get into the fields.
He makes us realize how difficult it was to procure the necessities of life. Where, for instance did they get the mills with which to grind their grains, where the instruments with which to make their farming implements and their household cooking utensils? ”

“ Every school child knows the outstanding facts about Thomas Jefferson. He will rattle off quickly that he was born near Charlottesville in Albemarle County, in 1743, that he was at William and Mary College when only seventeen and played his fiddle which he had carried as he rode the long miles between Charlottesville and Williamsburg. He graduated there and was admitted to the bar. Thomas Jefferson drafted, at the request of the Committee, the Declaration of Independence. He was Governor of Virginia during the trying years of the Revolutionary War. ”

“ The Scotch-Irish in the Valley
Many reasons caused the people of Europe to emigrate during the eighteenth century. In Ireland and Scotland an unrest was spreading as seen in the story of John Lewis.
He was born in Ireland and was a thrifty gentleman. He fell in love with and married Margaret Lynn, daughter of the laird of Loch Lynn, a descendant of a powerful Scotch clan. They were very happy with their three little sons and soon John Lewis rented more lands from a landlord. These lands brought him more and more wealth and the landlord grew jealous. ”

“ They continued to keep a part of their homes and to send back bands of hunters to look after the hunting grounds beyond the mountains.
If the Indians had not been friendly to those pioneers who dared to build homes in the Valley, there would not have been any civilization there until a much later date. But as we have seen, many of them came from Pennsylvania where William Penn and his colonists had dealt so fairly with the Indians. Naturally then, the Indians thought all the settlers would be like those. ”

“ New Market is the center today of the caverns in the Valley, for Shenandoah Caverns are to the north and Endless to the south, while within a short drive you may reach Luray, Massanutten, Melrose and Grand Caverns. Accommodations for the tourists are numerous and fair throughout the vicinity. [Pg 57]
Several years ago a re-enactment of the Battle of New Market occurred in which the corps from the Virginia Military Institute pitted their strength against the United States Marines. Among the spectators to this stirring War Between the States encounter was the Secretary of the Navy. ”

“ During the French and Indian War Colonel George Washington was asked to go to Winchester to defend the Valley. He found refugees overrunning the place and determined to build a fort on the outskirts of the town which would afford protection in case of raids. He imported his own blacksmith to do the foundry work, so anxious was he to speed the construction of the fortifications. Fort Loudon was the name given, after Lord Loudon the commander of the colonial forces, and a successful defense was made against the French there. ”