The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-12-09
In Cloud Land.
Floyd Co., Va, Nov. 80, 1896


From The Press
A night and two days spent in the land
of the sky, on the extreme top of the
Buffalo mountain, in Indian summer, is
treat but few people have experienced.
From south view ( this mountain
one sees the perfect outlines of the ami
NAL whose name it bears-a great mass
of craggy rocks which resemble the shay.
gy coat of the buffalo. The veins in the
rock show it TO have been in fused state
at its birth Great seams Of white quartz
twisted into peculiar shapes are mixed
with the gray granite and the black rock,
showing beautiful markings. The noun
tain is some five miles long, about $500
feet above the sea at its highest point.
The lower sides are covered with fine
timber which extends to within few
hundred feet of the top From here to
the timber line it plainly shows its ina
bility to thrive up so high, dwinding in
size to a perfectly developed dwarf tree
but yard or two high, many not more
than two feet which have on them per-
feet tiny acorns of the Spanish oak varie-
ty. Then they cease to exist altogether,
the hardy laurel in the dwarf state TAX
ing its place to within couple hundred
feet of the top, where it, too, becomes ex-
hausted and vanishes. Thence a queer
but beautiful moss thrives within few
yards of the top where no vegetation
grows plainly defining the last struggles
of expiring nature. Within few yards
of this rocky pile cold spring Of consid-
cradle size issues forth. How and where
it gets its fountain head has been poser
to many learned men who have seen it.
One old fellow tells me it gets its head
from the ocean, and says all springs do
that this earth is as fiat as pancake, but
as he had lived over 80 years and about
one-half of our scientists holding to near
the same belief, concluded not to per-
suade him to different opinion.
We arrive in the middle of the day
when everything is in the fullness of it's
glory, and long we stand with field glass
es and sweep the landscape that stretch
es more than 100 miles in every direction
with picturesque diversity of mountain
ranges and cultivated valleys. Below to
the northwest flows the crystal stream
called Burk's Fork, whose waters flash
the MONDAY sun like ribbon of NOV
ing diamonds. Along its edges are mead
ow lands and pastures where can be seen
lazily grazing fine herds of cattle.
These lands were the first to be cleared
and settled in this part of the state, am
told. Long before the new republic of
the W estern hemisphere was even in en-
bryo all this region roundabout was in
habited by savages-the ancestors of
many people living here now. Thrilling
tales are told of the dangers the settlers
had to undergo in defending themselves
against the red man. Whole families
were murdered and scalped, men and wo-
men being carried off into captivity to
meet lingering and cruel death.
On the southeast side Of the mountain
still live the descendant, of two ofthe
most illustrous families of this state-the
kith and kin of r. +. Lee and the Bur-
rells, who own these lands for miles in
every direction. They cleared large
plantation along the Laurel Fork, a beau
tful crystal stream, on which Is the larg-
est log barn ever saw. Built more than
century ago it is still in fair condition.
am told these lands were cleared by
an uncle Of r. E. Lee. Many of the old
fields have grown to timber and briars.
Where was once the sonorous song of the
happy slave as he toiled along, now is a
tangIe of wildwood, where roam at will
the catamount and rattler.
As stated in former letter, these lands
embrace the largest body of hardwood
timber on this continent. The oaks are
simply gigantic in size This old noun
tain is haunted:witb associations that can