The Patrick County Story Webpage #2
Patrick County History Along The Dividing Line With North Carolina
William Byrd’s Dividing Line
Many times while traveling from Stuart to Ararat, I admired the view of the mountains on the new section of Highway 103 as it drops down towards Peter’s Creek. I was not the first person to appreciate the vista of the Blue Ridge. In October, 1728 William Byrd II wrote History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina “In the afternoon we walk’t up a high hill north of our camp from whence we discovered an amphitheatre of mountains.”
Recently, I came across an article from August 1971 when the historic societies of Patrick and Stokes counties came together to commemorate the end of the survey led by William Byrd II of Westover in 1728 along Peter’s Creek. Driving down the Five Forks road I found the Virginia State Historical Marker and the stone marker placed by the county historic societies, which led to this article on an overlooked part of Patrick County’s history.
William Byrd II was born March 28, 1674, in Virginia. His father was the first Byrd in America planted tobacco and traded with the mother country, where his father was a London goldsmith. The future surveyor went back to England in 1681 for his education. Fifteen years elapsed before he returned to Virginia after a business apprenticeship in the Netherlands, becoming a lawyer and a member of the Royal Society. After staying only one year, Byrd returned to England until 1704. On the death of his father, he returned to Virginia, took control of his lands, and married Lucy Parke. Over the next twenty years he became involved with politics, feuded with Governor Spotswood, traveled back and forth to England, lost his first wife and married a second, Maria Taylor.
In 1728, the Governor appointed Byrd commissioner to settle the boundary dispute between North Carolina and Virginia that went back to the Carolina Charter of 1663. There were seven commissioners, four surveyors, forty laborers and one chaplain. The party set out from Currituck Inlet on the Atlantic coast on March 5, 1728. In six weeks, they traveled seventy-three miles when they suspended the expedition until fall due to the enormous number of snakes.
The survey resumed on September 20, 1728, but on October 5 the commissioners from North Carolina announced they would not continue because they felt the survey had gone farther than people would ever live. Byrd’s party continued on seventy-five miles for a total of two hundred and forty-one miles. Upon arriving on a stream, we know as Peter’s Creek Byrd wrote, “prudence got the better of curiosity” and with the approach of winter the party decided to return home with their job complete. Thomas Jefferson’s father Peter would extend the boundary line in the 1740’s.
William Byrd II kept a diary most of his life and experts consider his writings classics of the colonial period. They are blunt and honest about his daily life including his natural functions and especially his sex life. He had two diaries about his work on the dividing line. One known as the “Secret Diary” he doesn’t use the real names of the participants and he makes fun of those with him and the local people along the boundary of the two colonies. Among those with Byrd was William Mayo for whom the local river is named.
Byrd returned to the area in 1733, which he wrote about in his “Journey to Eden.” For his services on the survey, Byrd received two hundred pounds and twenty thousand acres. In 1743, he would add six thousand more acres. He died on August 26, 1744. William Byrd II’s home Westover still stands south of Richmond along the north bank of the James River, but only the grounds are open to the public. Nearby the Harrison family home Berkley is open to the public along with Shirley, the Carter family home and Sherwood Forest, home of President John Tyler.
Books by and on William Byrd II
William Byrd's Histories of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North
Carolina by William Byrd, Percy G. Adams (Intro)
Published
February 1988 Dover Publications
ISBN-13:
9780486255538
Related Links On William Byrd II
William Byrd Bio From Yale University Website
Perspectives In American Literature Guide on William Byrd
Read The History of the Dividing Line by William Byrd
Virginia Community College Course on Byrd
Byrd's Writings Through Henry and Patrick County Virginia
William Byrd and his party left Pittsylvania County, Virginia on October 18, 1728 and entered present day Henry County. Below is his diary to the Banks of Peter’s Creek in present day Patrick County the furthest point of the expedition.
(October 1728) 19th. About four miles beyond the river Irvin, we forded Matrimony creek, called so by an unfortunate married man, because it was exceedingly noisy and impetuous. However, though the stream was clamorous, yet, like those women who make themselves plainest heard, it was likewise perfectly clear and unsullied. Still half a mile further we saw a small mountain, about five miles to the north-west of us, which we called the Wart, because it appeared no bigger than a wart, in comparison of the great mountains which hid their haughty heads in the clouds. We were not able to extend the line farther than five miles and one hundred and thirty five poles, not withstanding we began our march early in the morning, and did not encamp till it was almost dark. We made it the later by endeavouring to quarter in some convenient situation, either for grass or canes. But night surprising us, we were obliged to lodge at last upon high and uneven ground, which was so overgrown with shrubs and saplings, that we could hardly see ten yards around us. The most melancholy part of the story was, that our horses had short commons. The poor creatures were now grown so weak that they staggered when we mounted them. Nor would our own fare have been at all more plentiful, had we not been so provident as to carry a load of meat along with us. Indeed, the woods were too thick to show us any sort of game but one wild turkey, which helped to enrich our soup. To make us amends, we found abundance of very sweet grapes, which, with the help of bread, might have furnished out a good Italian repast, in the absence of more savoury food. The men's mouths watered at the sight of a prodigious flight of wild pigeons, which flew high over our heads to the southward. The flocks of these birds of passage are so amazingly great, sometimes, that they darken the sky; nor is it uncommon for them to light in such numbers in the larger limbs of mulberry trees and oaks as to break them down. In their travels they make vast havoc amongst the acorns and berries of all sorts, that they waste whole forests in a short time, and leave a famine behind them for most other creatures; and under some trees where they light, it is no strange thing to find the ground covered three inches thick with their dung. These wild pigeons commonly breed in the uninhabited parts of Canada, and as the cold approaches assemble their armies and bend their course southerly, shifting their quarters, like many of the winged kind, according to the season. But the most remarkable thing in their flight, as we are told, is that they never have been observed to return to the northern countries the same way they came from thence, but take quite another route, I suppose for their better subsistence. In these long flights they are very lean, and their flesh is far from being white or tender, though good enough upon a march, when hunger is the sauce, and makes it go down better than truffles and morels would do.
20th. It was now Sunday, which we had like to have spent in fasting as well as prayer; for our men, taking no care for the morrow, like good Christians, but bad travellers, had improvidently devoured all their meat for supper. They were ordered in the morning to drive up their horses, lest they should stray too far from the camp and be lost, in case they were let alone all day. At their return they had the very great comfort to behold a monstrous fat bear, which the Indian had killed very seasonably for their breakfast. We thought it still necessary to make another reduction of our bread, from four to three pounds a week to every man, computing that we had still enough in that proportion to last us three weeks longer. The atmosphere was so smoky all round us, that the mountains were again grown invisible. This happened not from the haziness of the sky, but from the firing of the woods by the Indians, for we were now near the route the the northern savages take when they go out to war against the Catawbas and other southern nations. On their way the fires they make in their camps are left burning, which, catching the dry leaves that lie near, soon put the adjacent woods into a flame. Some of our men in search of their horses discovered one of those Indian camps, where not long before they had been a furring and dressing their skins. And now I mention the northern Indians, it may not be improper to take notice of their implacable hatred to those of the south. Their wars are everlasting, without any peace, enmity being the only inheritance among them that descends from father to son, and either party will march a thousand miles to take their revenge upon such hereditary enemies. These long expeditions are commonly carried on in the following manner; some Indian, remarkable for his prowess, that has raised himself to the reputation of a war captain, declares his intention of paying a visit to some southern nation; hereupon as many of the young fellows as have either a strong thirst of blood or glory, list themselves under his command. With these volunteers he goes from one confederate town to another, listing all the rabble he can, till he has gathered together a competent number for mischief. Their arms are a gun and tomahawk, and all the provisions they carry from home is a pouch of rockahominy. Thus provided and accoutred, they march towards their enemy's country, not in a body, or by a certain path, but straggling in small numbers, for the greater convenience of hunting and passing along undiscovered.
So soon as they approach the grounds on which the enemy is used to hunt, they never kindle any fire themselves, for fear of being found out by the smoke, nor will they shoot at any kind of game, though they should be half famished, lest they might alarm their foes, and put them upon their guard. Sometimes indeed, while they are still at some distance, they roast either venison or bear, till it is very dry, and then having strung it on their belts, wear it round their middle, eating very sparingly of it, because they know not when they shall meet with a fresh supply. But coming nearer, they begin to look all round the hemisphere, to watch if any smoke ascends, and listen continually for the report of guns, in order to make some happy discovery for their own advantage. It is amazing to see their sagacity in discerning the track of a human foot, even amongst dry leaves, which to our shorter sight is quite undiscoverable. If by one or more of those signs they be able to find out the camp of any southern Indians, they squat down in some thicket, and keep themselves hush and snug till it is dark; then creeping up softly, they approach near enough to observe all the motions of the enemy. And about two o'clock in the morning, when they conceive them to be in a profound sleep, for they never keep watch and ward, pour in a volley upon them, each singling out his man. The moment they have discharged their pieces, they rush in with their tomahawks, and make sure work of all that are disabled. Sometimes, when they find the enemy asleep round their little fire, they first pelt them with little stones to wake them, and when they get up, fire in upon them, being in that posture a better mark than when prostrate on the ground. Those that are killed of the enemy, or disabled, they scalp, that is, they cut the skin all round the head just below the hair, and then clapping their feet to the poor mortals' shoulders, pull the scalp off clean, and carry it home in triumph, being as proud of those trophies, as the Jews used to be of the foreskins of the Philistines. This way of scalping was practised by the ancient Scythians, who used these hairy scalps as towels at home, and trappings for their horses when they went abroad. They also made cups of their enemies' skulls, in which they drank prosperity to their country, and confusion to all their foes. The prisoners they happen to take alive in these expeditions generally pass their time very scurvily. They put them to all the tortures that ingenious malice and cruelty can invent. And (what shows the baseness of the Indian temper in perfection) they never fail to treat those with greatest inhumanity that have distinguished themselves most by their bravery; and, if he be a war captain, they do him the honour to roast him alive, and distribute a collop to all that had a share in stealing the victory.
They are very cunning in finding out new ways to torment their unhappy captives, though, like those of hell, their usual method is by fire. Sometimes they barbacue them over live coals, taking them off every now and then, to prolong their misery; at other times they will stick sharp pieces of lightwood all over their bodies, and setting them on fire, let them burn down into the flesh to the very bone. And when they take a stout fellow, that they believe able to endure a great deal, they will tear all the flesh off his bones with red hot pincers. While these and such like barbarities are practising, the victors are so far from being touched with tenderness and compassion, that they dance and sing round these wretched mortals, showing all the marks of pleasure and jollity. And if such cruelties happen to be executed in their towns, they employ their children in tormenting the prisoners, in order to extinguish in them betimes all sentiments of humanity. In the mean time, while these poor wretches are under the anguish of all this inhuman treatment, they disdain so much as to groan, sigh, or show the least sign of dismay or concern, so much as in their looks; on the contrary, they make it a point of honour all the time to soften their features, and look as pleased as if they were in the actual enjoyment of some delight; and if they never sang before in their lives, they will be sure to be melodious on this sad and dismal occasion. So prodigious a degree of passive valour in the Indians is the more to be wondered at, because in all articles of danger they are apt to behave like cowards. And what is still more surprising, the very women discover, on such occasions, as great fortitude and contempt, both of pain and death, as the gallantest of their men can do.
21st. The apprehensions we had of losing the horses in these copse woods were too well founded, nor were the precautions we used yesterday of driving them up sufficient to prevent their straying away afterwards, not-withstanding they were securely hobbled. We therefore ordered the men out early this morning to look diligently for them, but it was late before any could be found. It seems they had straggled in quest of forage, and, besides all that, the bushes grew thick enough to conceal them from being seen at the smallest distance. One of the people was so bewildered in search of his horse, that he lost himself, being no great forester. However, because we were willing to save time, we left two of our most expert woodsmen behind to beat all the adjacent woods in quest of him.
In the mean while the surveyors proceeded vigorously on their business, but were so perplexed with thickets at their first setting off, that their progress was much retarded. They were no sooner over that difficulty, but they were obliged to encounter another. The rest of their day's work lay over very sharp hills, where the dry leaves were so slippery that there was hardly any hold for their feet. Such rubs as these prevented them from measuring more than four miles and two hundred and seventy poles. Upon the sides of these hills the soil was rich, though full of stones, and the trees reasonably large.
The smoke continued still to veil the mountains from our sight, which made us long for rain, or a brisk gale of wind, to disperse it. Nor was the loss of this wild prospect all our concern, but we were apprehensive lest the woods should be burnt in the course of our line before us, or happen to take fire behind us, either of which would effectually have starved the horses, and made us all foot soldiers. But we were so happy, thank God! as to escape this misfortune in every part of our progress. We were exceedingly uneasy about our lost man, knowing he had taken no provision of any kind, nor was it much advantage towards his support, that he had taken his gun along with him, because he had rarely been guilty of putting any thing to death. He had unluckily wandered from the camp several miles, and after steering sundry unsuccessful courses, in order to return, either to us or to the line, was at length so tired he could go no farther. In this distress he sat himself down under a tree, to recruit his jaded spirit, and at the same time indulge a few melancholy reflections. Famine was the first phantom that appeared to him, and was the more frightful, because he fancied himself not quite bear enough to subsist long upon licking his paws. In the mean time the two persons we had sent after him hunted diligently great part of the day without coming upon his track. They fired their pieces towards every point of the compass, but could perceive no firing in return. However, advancing a little farther, at last they made a lucky shot, that our straggler had the good fortune to hear, and he returning the salute, they soon found each other with no small satisfaction. But though they lighted on the man, they could by no means light on his horse, and therefore he was obliged to be a foot soldier all the rest of the journey. Our Indian shot a bear so prodigiously fat, that there was no way to kill him but by firing in at his ear. The fore part of the skull of that animal being guarded by a double bone, is hardly penetrable, and when it is very fat, a bullet aimed at his body is apt to lose its force, before it reaches the vitals. This animal is of the dog kind, and our Indians, as well as woodsmen, are as fond of its flesh as the Chinese can be of that of the common hound.
22d. Early in the morning we sent back two men to make further search for the horse that was strayed away. We were unwilling the poor man should sustain such a damage as would eat out a large part of his pay, or that the public should be at the expense of reimbursing him for it. These foresters hunted all over the neighbouring woods, and took as much pains as if the horse had been their own property, but all their diligence was to no purpose. The surveyors, in the mean time, being fearful of leaving these men too far behind, advanced the line no farther than one mile and two hundred and thirty poles. As we rode along we found no less than three bears and a fat doe, that our Indian, who went out before us, had thrown in our course, and we were very glad to pick them up. About a mile from the camp we crossed Miry creek, so called because several of the horses were mired in its branches. About two hundred and thirty poles beyond that, the line intersected another river, that seemed to be a branch of the Irvin, to which we gave the name of the Mayo, in complement to the other of our surveyors. It was about fifty yards wide where we forded it, being just below a ledge of rocks, which reached across the river, and made a natural cascade. Our horses could hardly keep their feet over these slippery rocks, which gave some of their riders no small palpitation. This river forks about a quarter of a mile below the ford, and has some scattering canes growing near the mouth of it. We pitched our tent on the western banks of the Mayo, for the pleasure of being lulled to sleep by the cascade. Here our hunters had leisure to go out and try their fortunes, and returned loaded with spoil. They brought in no less than six bears, exceedingly fat, so that the frying pan had no rest all night. We had now the opportunity of trying the speed of this lumpish animal by a fair course it had with the nimblest of our surveyors. A cub of a year old will run very fast, because, being upon his growth, he is never encumbered with too much fat; but the old ones are more sluggish and unwieldy, especially when mast is plenty. Then their nimblest gait is only a heavy gallop, and their motion is still slower down hill, where they are obliged to sidle along very awkwardly, to keep their lights from rising up into their throat. These beasts always endeavour to avoid a man, except they are wounded, or happen to be engaged in the protection of their cubs. By the force of these instincts and that of self-preservation, they will now and then throw off all reverence for their Maker's image. For that reason, excess of hunger will provoke them to the same desperate attack, for the support of their being. A memorable instance of the last case is said to have happened not long ago in New England, where a bear assaulted a man just by his own door, and rearing himself upon his haunches, offered to take him lovingly into his hug. But the man's wife observing the danger her husband was in, had the courage to run behind the bear, and thrust her two thumbs into his eyes. This made Bruin quit the man, and turn short upon the woman to take his revenge, but she had the presence of mind to spring back with more than female agility, and so both their lives were preserved.
23d. At the distance of sixty-two poles from where we lay, we crossed the south branch of what we took for the Irvin, nor was it without difficulty we got over, though it happened to be without damage. Great part of the way after that was mountainous, so that we were no sooner got down one hill, but we were obliged to climb up another. Only for the last mile of our stage, we encountered a locust thicket that was level, but interlaced terribly with briers and grape vines. We forded a large creek, no less than five times, the banks of which were so steep that we were forced to cut them down with a hoe. We gave it the name of Crooked creek, because of its meanders. The sides of it were planted with shrub-canes, extremely inviting to the horses, which were now quite jaded with clambering up so many precipices, and tugging through so many dismal thickets, notwithstanding which we pushed the line this day four miles sixty-nine poles. The men were so unthrifty this morning as to bring but a small portion of their abundance along with them. This was the more unlucky, because we could discover no sort of game the whole livelong day. Woodsmen are certainly good Christians in one respect, at least, that they always leave the morrow to care for itself; though for that very reason they ought to pray more fervently for their daily bread than most of them remember to do.
The mountains were still concealed from our eyes by a cloud of smoke. As we went along we were alarmed at the sight of a great fire, which showed itself to the northward. This made our small corps march in closer order than we used to do, lest perchance we might be waylaid by Indians. It made us look out sharp to see if we could discover any track or other token of these insidious foresters, but found none. In the mean time we came often upon the track of bears, which cannot without some skill be distinguished from that of human creatures, made with naked feet. And indeed a young woodsman would be puzzled to find out the difference, which consists principally in a bear's paws being something smaller than a man's foot, and in its leaving sometimes the mark of its claws in the impression made upon the ground.
The soil, where the locust thicket grew, was exceedingly rich, as it constantly is, where that kind of tree is naturally and largely produced. But the desolation made there lately, either by fire or caterpillars, had been so general, that we could not see a tree of any bigness standing within our prospect. And the reason why a fire makes such a havoc in these lonely parts is this. The woods are not there burnt every year, as they generally are amongst the inhabitants. But the dead leaves and trash of many years are heaped up together, which being at length kindled by the Indians that happen to pass that way, furnish fuel for a conflagration that carries all before it. There is a beautiful range of hills, as level as a terrace-walk, that overlooks the valley through which Crooked creek conveys its spiral stream. This terrace runs pretty near east and west, about two miles south of the line, and is almost parallel with it. The horses had been too much harassed to permit us to ride at all out of our way, for the pleasure of any prospect, or the gratification of any curiosity. This confined us to the narrow sphere of our business, and is at the same time a just excuse for not animating our story with greater variety.
24th. The surveyors went out the sooner this morning, by reason the men lost very little time in cooking their breakfast. They had made but a spare meal over night, leaving nothing but the hide of a bear for the morrow. Some of the keenest of them got up at midnight to cook that nice morsel after the Indian manner. They first singed the hair clean off, that none of it might stick in their throats; then they boiled the pelt into soup, which had a stratum of grease swimming upon, it full half an inch thick. However, they commended this dish extremely; though I believe the praises they gave it were more owing to their good stomach than to their good taste. The line was extended six miles and three hundred poles, and in that distance crossed Crooked creek at least eight times more. We were forced to scuffle through a thicket about two miles in breadth, planted with locusts and hickory saplings, as close as they could stand together. Amongst these there was hardly a tree of tolerable growth within view. It was a dead plane of several miles extent, and very fertile soil. Beyond that the woods were open for about three miles, but mountainous. All the rest of our day's journey was pestered with bushes and grape vines, in the thickest of which we were obliged to take up our quarters, near one of the branches of Crooked creek. This night it was the men's good fortune to fare very sumptuously. The Indian had killed two large bears, the fattest of which he had taken napping. One of the people too shot a rackoon, which is also of the dog kind, and as big as a small fox, though its legs are shorter, and when fat has a much higher relish than either mutton or kid. It is naturally not carnivorous, but very fond of Indian corn and persimmons. The fat of this animal is reckoned very good to assuage swellings and inflammations. Some old maids are at the trouble of breeding them up tame, for the pleasure of seeing them play over as many humorous tricks as a monkey. It climbs up small trees, like a bear, by embracing the bodies of them. Till this night we had accustomed ourselves to go to bed in our night-gowns, believing we should thereby be better secured from the cold: but upon trial found we lay much warmer by stripping to our shirts, and spreading our gowns over us. A true woodsman, if he have no more than a single blanket, constantly pulls all off, and, lying on one part of it, draws the other over him, believing it much more refreshing to lie so, than in his clothes; and if he find himself not warm enough, shifts his lodging to leeward of the fire, in which situation the smoke will drive over him, and effectually correct the cold dews, that would otherwise descend upon his person, perhaps to his great damage.
25th. The air clearing up this morning, we were again agreeably surprised with a full prospect of the mountains. They discovered themselves both to the north and south of us, on either side, not distant above ten miles, according to our best computation. We could now see those to the north rise in four distinct ledges, one above another, but those to the south formed only a single ledge, and that broken and interrupted in many places; or rather they were only single mountains detached from each other. One of the southern mountains was so vastly high, it seemed to hide its head in the clouds, and the west end of it terminated in a horrible precipice, that we called the Despairing Lover's Leap. The next to it, towards the east, was lower, except at one end, where it heaved itself up in the form of a vast stack of chimneys. The course of the northern mountains seemed to tend west-south-west, and those to the southward very near west. We could descry other mountains ahead of us, exactly in the course of the line, though at a much greater distance. In this point of view, the ledges on the right and left both seemed to close, and form a natural amphitheatre. Thus it was our fortune to be wedged in betwixt these two ranges of mountains, insomuch that if our line had run ten miles on either side, it had butted before this day either upon one or the other, both of them now stretching away plainly to the eastward of us. It had rained a little in the night, which dispersed the smoke and opened this romantic scene to us all at once, though it was again hid from our eyes as we moved forwards, by the rough woods we had the misfortune to be engaged with. The bushes were so thick for near four miles together, that they tore the deer skins to pieces that guarded the bread bags. Though, as rough as the woods were, the soil was extremely good all the way, being washed down from the neighbouring hills into the plain country. Notwithstanding all these difficulties, the surveyors drove on the line four miles and two hundred and five poles.
In the mean time we were so unlucky as to meet with no sort of game the whole day, so that the men were obliged to make a frugal distribution of what little they left in the morning. We encamped upon a small rill, where the horses came off as temperately as their masters. They were by this time grown so thin, by hard travel and spare feeding, that henceforth, in pure compassion, we chose to perform the greater part of the journey on foot. And as our baggage was by this time grown much lighter, we divided it, after the best manner, so that every horse's load might be proportioned to the strength he had left. Though, after all the prudent measures we could take, we perceived the hills began to rise upon us so fast in our front, that it would be impossible for us to proceed much farther.
We saw very few squirrels in the upper parts, because the wild cats devour them unmercifully. Of these there are four kinds: the fox squirrel, the gray, the flying, and the ground squirrel. These last resemble a rat in every thing but the tail, and the black and russet streaks that run down the length of their little bodies.
26th. We found our way grow still more mountainous, after extending the line three hundred poles farther. We came then to a rivulet that ran with a swift current towards the south. This we fancied to be another branch of the Irvin, though some of the men, who had been Indian traders, judged it rather to be the head of Deep river, that discharges its stream into that of Pee Dee; but this seemed a wild conjecture. The hills beyond that river were exceedingly lofty, and not to be attempted by our jaded palfreys, which could now hardly drag their legs after them upon level ground. Besides, the bread began to grow scanty, and the winter season to advance apace upon us. We had likewise reason to apprehend the consequences of being intercepted by deep snows, and the swelling of the many waters between us and home. The first of these misfortunes would starve all our horses, and the other ourselves, by cutting off our retreat, and obliging us to winter in those desolate woods. These considerations determined us to stop short here, and push our adventures no farther. The last tree we marked was a red oak, growing on the bank of the river; and to make the place more remarkable, we blazed all the trees around it.
We found the whole distance, from Coratuck inlet to the rivulet where we left off, to be, in a straight line, two hundred and forty-one miles and two hundred and thirty poles. And from the place where the Carolina commissioners deserted us, seventy-two miles and three hundred and two poles. This last part of the journey was generally very hilly, or else grown up with troublesome thickets and underwoods, all which our Carolina friends had the discretion to avoid. We encamped in a dirty valley near the rivulet above-mentioned, for the advantage of the canes, and so sacrificed our own convenience to that of our horses. There was a small mountain half a mile to the northward of us, which we had the curiosity to climb up in the afternoon, in order to enlarge our prospect. From thence we were able to discover where the two ledges of mountains closed, as near as we could guess, about thirty miles to the west of us, and lamented that our present circumstances would not permit us to advance the line to that place, which the hand of Nature had made so very remarkable.
Not far from our quarters one of the men picked up a pair of elk's horns, not very large, and discovered the track of the elk that had shed them. It was rare to find any tokens of those animals so far to the south, because they keep commonly to the northward of thirty-seven degrees, as the buffaloes, for the most part, confine themselves to the southward of that latitude. The elk is full as big as a horse, and of the deer kind. The stags only have horns, and those exceedingly large and spreading. Their colour is something lighter than that of the red deer, and their flesh tougher. Their swiftest speed is a large trot, and in that motion they turn their horns back upon their necks, and cock their noses aloft in the air. Nature has taught them this attitude to save their antlers from being entangled in the thickets, which they always retire to. They are very shy, and have the sense of smelling so exquisite that they wind a man at a great distance. For this reason they are seldom seen but when the air is moist, in which case their smell is not so nice. They commonly herd together, and the Indians say, if one of the drove happen by some wound to be disabled from making his escape, the rest will forsake their fears to defend their friend, which they will do with great obstinacy, till they are killed upon the spot. Though, otherwise, they are so alarmed at the sight of a man, that to avoid him they will sometimes throw themselves down very high precipices into the river.
A misadventure happened here, which gave us no small perplexity. One of the commissioners was so unlucky as to bruise his foot against a stump, which brought on a formal fit of the gout. It must be owned there could not be a more unseasonable time, nor a more improper situation, for any one to be attacked by that cruel distemper. The joint was so inflamed that he could neither draw shoe nor boot upon it; and to ride without either would have exposed him to so many rude knocks and bruises, in those rough woods, as to be intolerable even to a stoic. It was happy, indeed, that we were to rest here the next day, being Sunday, that there might be leisure for trying some speedy remedy. Accordingly he was persuaded to bathe his foot in cold water, in order to repel the humour and assuage the inflammation. This made it less painful, and gave us hopes, too, of reducing the swelling in a short time.
Our men had the fortune to kill a brace of bears, a fat buck, and a wild turkey, all which paid them with interest for yesterday's abstinence. This constant and seasonable supply of our daily wants made us reflect thankfully on the bounty of Providence. And that we might not be unmindful of being all along fed by Heaven in this great and solitary wilderness, we agreed to wear in our hats the maosti, which is, in Indian, the beard of a wild turkey-cock, and on our breasts the figure of that fowl with its wings extended, and holding in its claws a scroll, with this motto, "Vice coturnicum," meaning that we had been supported by them in the wilderness in the room of quails.
27th. This being Sunday we were not wanting in our thanks to Heaven for the constant support and protection we had been favoured with. Nor did our chaplain fail to put us in mind of our duty by a sermon proper for the occasion. We ordered a strict inquiry to be made into the quantity of bread we had left, and found no more than would subsist us a fortnight at short allowance. We made a fair distribution of our whole stock, and at the same time recommended to the men to manage this, their last stake, to the best advantage, not knowing how long they would be obliged to live upon it. We likewise directed them to keep a watchful eye upon their horses, that none of them might be missing the next morning, to hinder our return. There fell some rain before noon, which made our camp more a bog than it was before. This moist situation began to infect some of the men with fevers, and some with fluxes, which however we soon removed with Peruvian bark and ipocoacanah. In the afternoon we marched up again to the top of the hill to entertain our eyes a second time with the view of the mountains, but a perverse fog arose that hid them from our sight. In the evening we deliberated which way it might be most proper to return. We had at first intended to cross over at the foot of the mountains to the head of James river, that we might be able to describe that natural boundary so far. But, on second thoughts, we found many good reasons against that laudable design, such as the weakness of our horses, the scantiness of our bread, and the near approach of winter. We had cause to believe the way might be full of hills, and the farther we went towards the north, the more danger there would be of snow. Such considerations as these determined us at last to make the best of our way back upon the line, which was the straightest, and consequently the shortest way to the inhabitants. We knew the worst of our course, and were sure of a beaten path all the way, while we were totally ignorant what difficulties and dangers the other course might be attended with. So prudence got the better for once of curiosity, and the itch for new discoveries gave place to self-preservation. Our inclination was the stronger to cross over according to the course of the mountains, that we might find out whether James river and Appomattox river head there, or run quite through them. It is certain that Potomac passes in a large stream through the main ledge, and then divides itself into two considerable rivers. That which stretches away to the northward is called Cohungaroota, and that which flows to the south-west, hath the name of Sharantow. The course of this last stream is near parrallel to the Blue Ridge of mountains, at the distance only of about three or four miles. Though how far it may continue that course has not yet been sufficiently discovered, but some woodsmen pretend to say it runs as far as the source of Roanoke; nay, they are so very particular as to tell us that Roanoke, Sharantow, and another wide branch of Mississippi, all head in one and the same mountain. What dependence there may be upon this conjectural geography, I will not pretend to say, though it is certain that Sharantow keeps close to the mountains, as far as we are acquainted with its tendency. We are likewise assured that the south branch of James river, within less than twenty miles east of the main ledge, makes an elbow, and runs due south-west, which is parallel with the mountains on this side. But how far it stretches that way, before it returns, is not yet certainly known, no more than where it takes its rise.
In the mean time it is strange that our woodsmen have not had curiosity enough to inform themselves more exactly of these particulars, and it is stranger still that the government has never thought it worth the expense of making an accurate survey of the mountains, that we might be masters of that natural fortification before the French, who in some places have settlements not very distant from it. It therefore concerns his majesty's service very nearly, and the safety of his subjects in this part of the world, to take possession of so important a barrier in time, lest our good friends, the French, and the Indians, through their means, prove a perpetual annoyance to these colonies. Another reason to invite us to secure this great ledge of mountains is, the probability that very valuable mines may be discovered there. Nor would it be at all extravagant to hope for silver mines, among the rest, because part of these mountains lie exactly in the same parallel, as well as upon the same continent with New Mexico, and the mines of St. Barb.
28th. We had given orders for the horses to be brought up early, but the likelihood of more rain prevented our being over-hasty in decamping. Nor were we out in our conjectures, for about ten o'clock it began to fall very plentifully. Our commissioner's pain began now to abate, as the swelling increased. He made an excellent figure for a mountaineer, with one boot of leather and the other of flannel. Thus accoutred, he intended to mount, if the rain had not happened opportunely to prevent him. Though, in truth, it was hardly possible for him to ride with so slender a defence, without exposing his foot to be bruised and tormented by the saplings, that stood thick on either side of the path. It was therefore a most seasonable rain for him, as it gave more time for his distemper to abate. Though it may be very difficult to find a certain cure for the gout, yet it is not improbable but some things may ease the pain, and shorten the fits of it. And those medicines are most likely to do this, that supple the parts, and clear the passage through the narrow vessels, that are the seat of this cruel disease. Nothing will do this more suddenly than rattle-snake's oil, which will even penetrate the pores of glass when warmed in the sun. It was unfortunate, therefore, that we had not taken out the fat of those snakes we had killed some time before, for the benefit of so useful an experiment, as well as for the relief of our fellow-traveller. But lately the Seneca rattle-snake root has been discovered in this country, which being infused in wine, and drunk morning and evening, has in several instances had a very happy effect upon the gout, and enabled cripples to throw away their crutches and walk several miles, and, what is stranger still, it takes away the pain in half an hour. Nor was the gout the only disease amongst us that was hard to cure. We had a man in our company who had too voracious a stomach for a woodsman. He ate as much as any other two, but all he swallowed stuck by him till it was carried off by a strong purge. Without this assistance, often repeated, his belly and bowels would swell to so enormous a bulk that he could hardly breathe, especially when he lay down, just as if he had had an asthma; though, notwithstanding this oddness of constitution, he was a very strong, lively fellow, and used abundance of violent exercise, by which it was wonderful the peristaltic motion was not more vigorously promoted. We gave this poor man several purges, which only eased him for the present, and the next day he would grow as burly as ever. At last we gave him a moderate dose of ipocoacanah, in broth made very salt, which turned all its operation downwards. This had so happy an effect that, from that day forward to the end of our journey, all his complaints ceased, and the passages continued unobstructed.
The rain continued most of the day and some part of the night, which incommoded us much in our dirty camp, and made the men think of nothing but eating, even at the time when nobody could stir out to make provision for it.
29th. Though we were flattered in the morning with the usual tokens of a fair day, yet they all blew over, and it rained hard before we could make ready for our departure. This was still in favour of our podagrous friend, whose lameness was now grown better, and the inflammation fallen. Nor did it seem to need above one day more to reduce it to its natural proportion, and make it fit for the boot; and effectually the rain procured this benefit for him, and gave him particular reason to believe his stars propitious. Notwithstanding the falling weather, our hunters sallied out in the afternoon, and drove the woods in a ring, which was thus performed. From the circumference of a large circle they all marched inwards and drove the game towards the centre. By this means they shot a brace of fat bears, which came very seasonably, because we had made clean work in the morning and were in danger of dining with St. Anthony, or his grace Duke Humphry. But in this expedition the unhappy man who had lost himself once before, straggled again so far in pursuit of a deer, that he was hurried a second time quite out of his knowledge; and night coming on before he could recover the camp, he was obliged to lie down, without any of the comforts of fire, food or covering; nor would his fears suffer him to sleep very sound, because, to his great disturbance, the wolves howled all that night, and the panthers screamed most frightfully. In the evening a brisk north-wester swept all the clouds from the sky, and exposed the mountains as well as the stars to our prospect. That which was the most lofty to the southward, and which we called the Lover's Leap, some of our Indian traders fondly fancied was the Kiawan mountain, which they had formerly seen from the country of the Cherokees. They were the more positive by reason of the prodigious precipice that remarkably distinguished the west end of it. We seemed however not to be far enough south for that, though it is not improbable but a few miles farther the course of our line might carry us to the most northerly towns of the Cherokees. What makes this the more credible, is the north-west course, that our traders take from the Catawbas for some hundred miles together, when they carry goods that round-about way to the Cherokees. It was a great pity that the want of bread, and the weakness of our horses, hindered us from making the discovery. Though the great service such an excursion might have been to the country would certainly have made the attempt not only pardonable, but much to be commended. Our traders are now at the vast charge and fatigue of travelling above five hundred miles for the benefit of that traffic which hardly quits cost. Would it not then be worth the assembly's while to be at some charge to find a shorter cut to carry on so profitable a trade, with more advantage, and less hazard and trouble, than they do at present? For I am persuaded it will not then be half the distance that our traders make it now, nor half so far as Georgia lies from the northern clans of that nation. Such a discovery would certainly prove an unspeakable advantage to this colony, by facilitating a trade with so considerable a nation of Indians, which have sixty-two towns, and more than four thousand fighting men. Our traders at that rate would be able to undersell those sent from the other colonies so much, that the Indians must have reason to deal with them preferable to all others. Of late the new colony of Georgia has made an act obliging us to go four hundred miles to take out a license to traffic with these Cherokees, though many of their towns lie out of their bounds, and we had carried on this trade eighty years before that colony was thought of.
30th. In the morning early the man who had gone astray the day before found his way to the camp, by the sound of the bells that were upon the horses' necks. At nine o'clock we began our march back towards the rising sun; for though we had finished the line, yet we had not yet near finished our fatigue. We had after all two hundred good miles at least to our several habitations, and the horses were brought so low, that we were obliged to travel on foot great part of the way, and that in our boots, too, to save our legs from being torn to pieces by the bushes and briers. Had we not done this, we must have left all our horses behind, which could now hardly drag their legs after them, and with all the favour we could show the poor animals, we were forced to set seven of them free, not far from the foot of the mountains. Four men were despatched early to clear the road, that our lame commissioner's leg might be in less danger of being bruised, and that the baggage horses might travel with less difficulty and more expedition. As we passed along, by favour of a serene sky, we had still, from every eminence, a perfect view of the mountains, as well to the north as to the south. We could not forbear now and then facing about to survey them, as if unwilling to part with a prospect, which at the same time, like some rake's, was very wild and very agreeable. We encouraged the horses to exert the little strength they had, and being light, they made a shift to jog on about eleven miles. We encamped on Crooked creek, near a thicket of canes. In the front of our camp rose a very beautiful hill, that bounded our view at about a mile's distance, and all the intermediate space was covered with green canes. Though, to our sorrow, fire-wood was scarce, which was now the harder upon us, because a north-wester blew very cold from the mountains.
The Indian killed a stately, fat buck, and we picked his bones as clean as a score of turkey-buzzards could have done. By the advantage of a clear night, we made trial once more of the variation, and found it much the same as formerly. This being his majesty's birthday, we drank all the loyal healths in excellent water, not for the sake of the drink, (like many of our fellow subjects,) but purely for the sake of the toast. And because all public mirth should be a little noisy, we fired several volleys of canes, instead of guns, which gave a loud report. We threw them into the fire, where the air enclosed betwixt the joints of the canes, being expanded by the violent heat, burst its narrow bounds with a considerable explosion!
In the evening one of the men knocked down an opossum, which is a harmless little beast, that will seldom go out of your way, and if you take hold of it, will only grin, and hardly ever bite. The flesh was well tasted and tender, approaching nearest to pig, which it also resembles in bigness. The colour of its fur was a goose gray, with a swine's snout, and a tail like a rat's, but at least a foot long. By twisting this tail about the arm of a tree, it will hang with all its weight, and swing to any thing it wants to take hold of. It has five claws on the fore feet of equal length, but the hinder feet have only four claws, and a sort of thumb standing off at a proper distance. Their feet being thus formed, qualify them for climbing up trees to catch little birds, which they are very fond of. But the greatest particularity of this creature, and which distinguishes it from most others that we are acquainted with, is the false belly of the female, into which her young retreat in time of danger. She can draw the slit, which is the inlet into this pouch, so close, that you must look narrowly to find it, especially if she happen to be a virgin. Within the false belly may be seen seven or eight teats, on which the young ones grow from their first formation till they are big enough to fall off, like ripe fruit from a tree. This is so odd a method of generation, that I should not have believed it without the testimony of mine own eyes. Besides a knowing and credible person has assured me he has more than once observed the embryo opossums growing to the teat before they were completely shaped, and afterwards watched their daily growth till they were big enough for birth. And all this he could the more easily pry into, because the dam was so perfectly gentle and harmless, that he could handle her just as he pleased. I could hardly persuade myself to publish a thing so contrary to the course that nature takes in the production of other animals, unless it were a matter commonly believed in all countries where that creature is produced, and has been often observed by persons of undoubted credit and understanding. They say that the leather-winged bats produce their young in the same uncommon manner. And that young sharks at sea, and young vipers ashore, run down the throats of their dams when they are closely pursued.
The frequent crossing of Crooked creek, and mounting the steep banks of it, gave the finishing stroke to the foundering our horses: and no less than two of them made a full stop here, and would not advance a foot father, either by fair means or foul. We had a dreamer of dreams amongst us, who warned me in the morning to take care of myself, or I should infallibly fall into the creek; I thanked him kindly, and used what caution I could, but was not able it seems to avoid my destiny, for my horse made a false step and laid me down at my full length in the water. This was enough to bring dreaming into credit, and I think it much for the honour of our expedition, that it was graced not only with a priest but also with a prophet. We were so perplexed with this serpentine creek, as well as in passing the branches of the Irvin, (which were swelled since we saw them before,) that we could reach but five miles this whole day. In the evening we pitched our tent near Miry creek, (though an uncomfortable place to lodge in) purely for the advantage of the canes. Our hunters killed a large doe and two bears, which made all other misfortunes easy. Certainly no Tartar ever loved horse-flesh, nor Hottentot guts and garbage, better than woodsmen do bear. The truth of it is, it may be proper food perhaps for such as work or ride it off, but, with our chaplain's leave, who loved it much, I think it not a very proper diet for saints, who do not mortify the flesh by toil. And now, for the good of mankind, and for the better peopling an infant colony, which has no want but that of inhabitants, I will venture to publish a secret of importance, which our Indian disclosed to me. I asked him the reason why few or none of his country women were barren? To which curious question he answered, with a broad grin upon his face, they had an infallible secret for that. Upon my being importunate to know what the secret might be, he informed me that, if any Indian woman did not prove with child at a decent time after marriage, the husband, to save his reputation with the women, forthwith entered into a bear-diet for six weeks, which in that time produces such healthy effect, that it is great odds but his wife becomes a mother in nine months. And thus much. I am able to say, besides, for the reputation of the bear diet, that all the married men of our company were joyful fathers within forty weeks after they got home, and most of the single men had children sworn to them within the same time, our chaplain always excepted, who, with much ado, made a shift to cast out that importunate kind of devil, by dint of fasting and prayer.
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Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry Continue The Dividing Line West
In the summer of 1749, William Charton and Daniel Weldon of North Carolina met Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson of Virginia on the banks of Peter’s Creek in Patrick County. Their mission was to extend the boundary line between the two colonies from the spot William Byrd II had stopped in 1728.
Joshua Fry, born in England in 1700 and educated at Oxford, taught math at the College of William and Mary. He served in many capacities such as magistrate, County Lieutenant of militia and Surveyor living in Albemarle County.
Peter Jefferson, described as a strong and quiet man, married into the Randolph family. He named his home, Shadwell, in Albemarle County after the parish where his wife, Jane, was christened. He learned surveying from William Mayo, who accompanied Byrd on the survey twenty years earlier.
The party crossed the western section of today’s Patrick County and extended the boundary line 90 miles west to Steep Rock Creek in present day Washington County. Unlike Byrd’s survey, no diaries or journals of the trip survive, but the “hardships” endured became something of legend in the Jefferson family. They crossed the Dan River near present day Claudville and the Ararat River on land that would a century later belong to Archibald Stuart. The Blue Ridge Mountains and the New River awaited the party. On December 13, 1749, they reported to the Council of Colonial Virginia with maps and expense reports. Virginia rewarded the two men with 300 pounds sterling for their “extraordinary trouble.”
In 1750, Acting Governor Burwell commissioned the two “to draw a map of the inhabited part of Virginia,” which was completed in 1751. The map shows landmarks those of living in Patrick County today would recognize such as the Irwin now Smith River, Wart Mountain in Virginia and Mount Ararat, now Pilot Mountain in North Carolina.
Three years later, Virginia appointed Fry Commander-in-Chief of Virginia forces in the French and Indian War with Lieutenant Colonel George Washington as second in command. Fry died on May 31, 1754 after his horse threw him leaving the future father of our country in command.
Peter Jefferson became the County Surveyor and Lieutenant in Albemarle and a member of the House of Burgess. Sadly, he died on August 17, 1757 leaving a wife and children among them a fourteen-year-old son, who said “his father’s mind was naturally strong, but that his education had been neglected.” Peter Jefferson made sure his oldest son was well educated by local teachers and at William and Mary. The son inherited 7500 acres near Shadwell that included a place he called the “Little Mountain” or Monticello. Thomas Jefferson wrote one book in his life called Notes on the State of Virginia with a map based on the one his father had surveyed while traveling through Patrick County.