The Monmouth inquirer., 1894-07-12

c.:unD ground Will be prepared.
The country around The Valley Forge
mot a valley forge simply, for at the
time Of its erection it WAS the only
forge in AL the Schuylkill Valley above
Philadelphia. and was then known,
and properly so now, as the Valley
Forge-is a terra incognita 10 the hum
dreds of visitors who annually pay Il
devout and patriotic pilgrimage to that
shrine of the nations hopes and pray
ers in the desperate winter of lT71-IS.
A visit to the Potts mansion. which
then was the headquarters of WASH
fngton, a stroll up the road 10 rhe
Washington Inn. and the pilgrimage
Is completed But there IS wealth
of historical remains unsought and I'M
appreciated by the American who con-
tents himself with a hasty inspection
of the pewter pots and delf plates that
were not used by Washington or his
soldiers at the Valley Forge camp. but
which are exhibited by the custodian
of the old mansion There are scenes
worth visiting, away off on the tan
gled hillside. where the amateur pho
tographer can gather priceless gems
of his art, and where he Will not be
interfered with by the senseless and
wholly indefensible rules OF a Ne
mortal Association. which proaibif;
even those who would aid its cause
and increase its funds from 50 doing
There is a road that leads on to the
right past the Washington Inn. It IS
a not much frequented fhoroughfare,
because it IS ill-kept and goes winding
I'D hill and down dale in sinuouS
way and over rocks in places which
-IS.-r I.tIf ~
ming gear, no matter how stout. ms,
according to local tradition, IS the old
est thoroughfare in the section II >
the road that was constructed before
the embattled farmers of New Eng
land had immortalized themselves or
the Valley Forge camp guard of the
ragged ContinentaIs had become the
Golgotha of Liberty TO any nation that
has struggled upward TO the light N
all the decades since. 1t is the road
that leads TO the long and well-defises.
line of entrenchments along and
around the hills that sweep the Sehuyl-
kill Valley to Fort Washington, that
in those glorious days of old swept,
with it's cumbersome smoothbores. the
log hut that held the ammunition Of
the haff-starved. army and commanded
iHH IuS uut lamp " e'NNeNr
Wayne, Poor, Glover, Learned. Pat
terson, Weeden and AIuhlenberg. 1t
leads past the sloping hill, hidden now
by masses of tangled vines and a
dense growth of saplings, where Wash
ington pitched his marquee while the
soldiers were building their huts.
whose completion he witnessed ere be
consented to seek permanent head
quarters in the house of Isaac Potts
The road to Fort Washington is mar
row. rocky and part of its length en-
powered in the surrounding woods.
Lucky is the visitor to this place If be
can strike Barney McMenaiain. owner
Of thirty acres Of historic sol ana 4
beautiful Couoty Tyrone brogue. who
settled in the shadow of Mt. Misery.
th'rty-five years ago.
.'There'S diyil shpot or shtonc
on the place that Dim not Intimately
acquainted wits1,'' said the guide phil
oscpher and friend. as he waGed knee
de,l, through daisy field where once
the barefooted legions of ''Nlad An
thony' and Maxwell tracked the
frozen snow with the blood OF their
naked feet. 1t is pasture land now. Z
sort of plateau lifted aroye the Schuyi-