The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-12-04
A Trip to the West.
DoTT1Nes ALONG THE ROUTE.

A Trip to the West.
DOTTINGS ALONG THE ROUTE.
SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI, Nov. 6. 1879.
VALLEY VIRGINIAN Sitting in this
beautiful city Of the Southwest, it is but
natural for one reared among the mountains
OF Virginia, that his mind should-like the
Jews towards Jerusalem--wander back to
the beautiful rivulets of the Shenandoah
Valley, and retrace the many scenes that in
tervene between here and there.
Thus it is with US. We look back to the
beautiful little city of the hills, so famed
for her many virtues and great men, both OF
the past and present age, andj from that
point review our sojourn as we pass the
many villages and beautiful farms along
the way. which soon brings US to the vener-
able old city of Winchester. Here, with
reverence for the founders of this historic
spot, who one hundred and twenty.seven
years ago established it a town, we
pause to view and behold the tombs of the
great ones gone, among whom is that thun-
derbolt of war-Jhe brave Morgan-over
whose sleeping ashes the missels of war in
many recent battles, have been harvest to
the cemetery of this beautiful city. Rever.
ence for the sleeping dead. causes us to tread
lightly DER their peaceful tombs, and thus
we go quietly on until we reach Harper's
Ferry. Here the mind mast stop aud pom
der, for it is perhaps one of the most stu
pendous scene in nature. On the one hand,
the Shenandoah having crept along the foot
OF the mountain for over hundred m lies to
seek eoNpanioas on theother approaches,
the Potomac in quest OF company Also
They rush together. shake hands, and pass
off to the mighty deep. No wonder that
young lovers seek to stand over these turbu-
lent waters to have the bonds of matrimony
united, for there the shaking hands of the
rivers and their onward flow to the ocean
the massive rocks and stupendous noun
tains all teach that ''what God has Joined
| together no man shall put asunder.''
| From this most picturesque scenery we
at Cumberland, in the State of Maryland,
| city in the Allegheny mountains from which
we proceed only to meet with beauty of
| mountain scenery and pleasant villages.
among which is Grafton, where we stopped
for breakfast. Plenty to eat but little time
to chew, for before the first cup of coffee
was swallowed the cry, ''all aboard, brought
US out OF the hotel like rats from burning
| hay stack. Picking our teeth we whizzed
on, over, under, and through the mountains
to Clarksburg. Here we were struck with
the beauty of the village, as it stands on
rolling table.land, surrounded by an am
phltheatre of hills, with Elk Creek meander-
ing through and around the town, adding adj
ditional beauty to the scene. 1t is all historic
in Indian warfare, and the name of Jesse
Hughes, the old pioneer who acted con-
spicuous part, will be revered by those
mountain people as long as their green
mountains stand.
Taking our leave Of this pretty village we
pass on 10 sParkersburg, one of the most
thriving towns Of West Virginia, the coun-
ty-seat Of Wood county, beautifully situated
at the mouth of the Little Kanawha. Here
we bid farewell to Virginia's youngest
daughter and pass on to visit her elder sis
ter, AS we reached the western shore of the
iar-famed Ohio, we paused to view her and
her surrounding grandeur, which cannot be
surpassed anywhere between there and the
Mississippi. But how could it be otherwise?
How could Ohio sit by her old mother (now
sister, without casting loving glance across
the placid stream which separates them p
After taking long look at the stream which
OF the world, now creeping slowly and
closely along in the bottom OF her bed, with
her steamboats, lying high on shore, for
want Of water to ride them, we pursued
our journey through the hills and even I'M
der some Of sthem, until we are aroused
with the cry of Athens ''What /! Ath-
ems" we exclaimed THAT sent forth the
noblest historians, the most eloquent orators,
the ablest statesmen and greatest COM
manders? Athens ! who for ages and ages
rode in the zenith of glory, till at length
she became the prey of the spoiler, despot
and stranger? Show US Mars Hill, that sa-
cred spot once hallowed by the footsteps of
the Apostle. Show us where the Courts OF
| the Areopagus used to hold its setting; the
place where Paul addressed the most intel.
lectual audience to whom he ever declared
the Gospel of Christ. Was it here that the
Apostle, in the very sight of these temples,
| under the very frown of the colossal statue
of Minerva, hestated not to tell the vain and
elegant Athenians that ''God dwelleth not
in temples made with hands, But alas,
our imagination was but visionary. 1t was
not Athens of which poets sing, but a beau
tiful city OF Ohio very closely allied to her.
She has her hill, but it is not "Mars Hill..'
She has her mount, but it is not Mount Ly.
cabettus. On one of those hills sits a mass
sive structure OF brick, beautifully orna.
mented. 1t is the State Lunatic Asylum
The others are interspersed with elegant
private residences. with grand brook run
ming between, the whole commanding a
lovely scene, from which we hasten to the
fertile fields of the Sciota-tbe garden spot
of the West. A hundred years ago this
was the home of the great Shawnee tribe of
Indians under the leadership Of the 'sBlack
Wolff What change since then In