Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-05-03

NI4sSs&s,iI t+kih feuds, vendettas,
&'sMT @9kM@lG and bloody bat
"-fkW1. II ties. are most
peculiar people with a history running
away beck into the '}O's, 'lO's and sos
and generations preceding, which, if
published, would throw into the shade
the best efforts of the Texas frontier
i'll the days of lis greatest notoriety.
Tho Big Sandmls proper, the men
who compose the corps of the Hatfclds
and Mctoys, owe their peculiar char
actcri5tic,, their vcugoful disposition,
and their undaunted bravery to an an
cestry dating back to the time when
the foothills of the Cumberland noun
tain&, the streams and valleys tributary
to the Sandy were first settled by q
race Of intrepid Indian hunters and
trappers, followers of Boone, kenton,
Arbuckle, and other leading spirits
Many of these men married Indian
squaws captured in raids, Or purchased
from the different warlike tribes that
then inhabited this region, and the
blood of these feminine branches of the
kingIicst Indians (for tradition and
documents still in existence show that
the White hunter of that day was still
some -hi'g OF an aristocraj, and seldom
cond2SceEdcd to mate with the com
moner members of the tribes is ut this
late day plainly apparent in the tall,
straight forms, the keen eyes, and
long, black hair of many of the older
families. 10 this fact is also attributed
many of the pcculiaritics of temper.-
nd Il
this age of intelligence. Around these
people. as nucleus, back in the '30's
and ,I0S OF the present generation, all
the Wild spirits of this part of the
country, who were either driven from
the large ceatcrS of population by vio-
latloa of some statute or by choice,
seem to have been attracted by some
occult magnetism, until the Big Sandy
country became known throughout the
country as the home and hiding place
of hundreds of the widest C haracters.
The Big Sandy raftsmen became
known throughout the country as the
widest, most dangerous class of men
on the Ohio River. Their carouses,
their love of fighting or anything
which partook of desperation and dew
iltry Is still familiar theme from
Pittsburg to Cincinnati. Hundreds of
stories of their dared scrapes are
still told along the river, ard it was
not an uncommon thing when several
hundred of them had sold their tim
Der, which they had toated down to
Cincinnati in immense RATS and fleets,
for them to get on board one of the
largest boats which at that day piled
the river, on their up trip, and take
the captain, pilots, engineers, and 9TH
er officers prisoners, and then run the
boat to suit themselves. On such oc-
caslons n steamboat would become a
pandemoui,m, with several hundred
gigantic devils whooping, yelling,
splitting tobacco juice against the bulk
heads, mirrors, or furniture, while
other disported themselves with cards
and played "old sledgc" or stud
poker until one or other participant
got up dead broke or the affair ended
in Il general fight Upon the hurri-
cane deck some leading spirit would
stand in command of the vessel, while
another covered the pilot with pistol
Or rifle and compelled him to
steer the craft subject to the
whim of the biggest devil, who
was in command. Below one
or two sat around the engine
room and persuaded" the engineer
and stokers into submission. On these
occasions the amount of steam was
most frequently controlled by the ca
pacity of the boilers, us the boat fairly
flew through the water. Every other
craft in the legitimate trade gave the
pirate" as wide berth as possible,
running into the bank if necessary to
get out of the way. When town or
landing was approached the bell was
kept changing as fast as stalwart arms
could pull the Iopc, while the whistle
was blown loud and long enough to
awaken the seven sleepers. The citi-
ZcnS of the town seemed to know By
intuition that the raftsmen had taken
possession of the boat long before she
came in sight, and crowds of them
would ccngrcgate along the bank to
witness the strange scene. There was
no use 10 resist, rs steamboatmen soon
Learned, and the only way to save the
boat and property was to effect some
sort of a compromise, which generally
ended in the dare devils running the
steamer half n day or such a matter,
when they turned her over to her proper
owners.
Although these men were known to
be da"e-devils and fond of a fight or
anything which partook CT excitement,
they were not all bad by any means.
Still, as the Big Sandy country was
known TO lie 'he hiding place of hun.
dreds of desperadoes. it got a wide
spread notoriety.
Along in the '40's and SOS the coun-
try for hundreds of miles above and
below was filed with counterfeits,
silver dollars. The Gov
eminent of the United States sent out
a number of its best detectives, and
after long time they located their
ut Sandy, but the manu-
facture was not suppressed until long
time after everybody knew as we'll al
the officers themselves that the coun-
terfeit was manufactured somewhere
up the stream. The Big Sandy dol
lar" as the counterfeit was denomina.