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Legends
of the
Skyline Drive
and the
Great Valley of Virginia
By
Carrie Hunter Willis
and
Etta Belle Walker
RICHMOND, VA.:
The Dietz Press, Publishers
1940
Copyright, 1940
BY
CARRIE HUNTER WILLIS
AND
ETTA BELLE WALKER
Printed in the United States of America
Foreword
Tucked away among the hills and valleys in and near theShenandoah National Park and the Great Valley of Virginia arestories of the beginnings of the white man's life beyond thecomparative ease of early Tidewater Virginia. These stories aretrue ones and they depict something of the courage and hardihoodof the early Virginia pioneer. Perhaps in reading of their liveswe may catch something of the majesty and charm of their surroundingswhich were reflected to a marked degree in their wayof living. Surely they must often have said, "I will look untothe hills from whence cometh my strength" or how else may weaccount for the developments which came as the result of theirconstant struggle for survival?
Stories of colonial Virginia on the eastern seaboard are numerousand usually exciting but they are quite different from thetales beyond the Piedmont. A combination of them may enableus to know Virginia as a whole in a more appreciative way.
Long before the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe ever setfoot in the wilds of Virginia, intrepid explorers had passedthrough various parts of the Valley country.
In 1654—more than sixty years before the Governor's expedition—ColonelAbraham Wood received permission to explorebeyond the mountains. His purpose was to establish trade relationswith the Indians. His journey carried him through thelower Blue Ridge, crossing the range near the Virginia-NorthCarolina line.
Reference is made elsewhere of the explorations conducted bythe one-time monk, John Lederer, whose journal of the trip wasfirst translated from German and published in London in 1672.
Let us plainly understand however that each of these trips wasof a migratory nature; not a thought was entertained by any ofthe participants of remaining in the Virginia mountains. Anywhite man found in these sections at this time was there becauseof good hunting grounds, hopes of good trading, the zeal of amissionary spirit or love of adventure and exploration.
The earliest settlers in the Valley in most part came either fromMaryland or Pennsylvania. They came in search of rich, cheapland or for economic reasons or in the hope of establishinggreater freedom for themselves and their children.
Two nationalities invaded the Great Valley almost simultaneously:the Germans and Scotch-Irish—both fine, sturdy, he