The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-09
LEGENDS OF UP ELK WAY.
A MYSTERY II HORTALIzED ny A
NAME AND A STAyZA.
The Unknown Englishman After whom
strange Greek Is Called-A Pot Of buried
Honey-E pitaph OF the Last Eik-Ihe
white Mulberry Mountain Family Pride.

Durango tTtth ~
Money Epitaph OF the Last Eik-Ihe
white Mulberry Mountain Family Pride.
CHARLESTON. w. Va, Sept. Quaint and
curious old traditions and legends abound in
the back country Of which the Fix River Is the
principal thoroughfare, a region commonly
designated here as up Elk, Much that may
be and very probably Is Of historical value,
but that has never yet been embodied In written
record, Is handed down by word Of mouth from
father to son through generations Of Elkers.
As a very large proportion Of the Elk River
families have been in that region for upward
of fifty years. aud probably more than half Of
them for nearly "A century, and as there have
been practically no additions from the outside
to the population except in the lumber camps,
which are not intrinsically a part Of the up
Elk communities, Y Is reasonable TO suppose
that these traditions have come down without
vital alteration and that the original fabric OF
truth has not been much embroidered. one
Of the most interesting of them may be perpetu-
ated officially in the suggested change OF the
name OF theIpost office at Savagetown to Strange
Creek,
Savagetown Ia not an important post office
from the point OF view Of the Post Office Depart
ment, but it supplies a considerable stretch OF
country with mail. Many n mountaineer rides
his fifteen miles thither across the mountains
on treacherous and brambly bridlepaths TO get
n circular from some gun company or n patent
medicine advertisement addressed TO bis wife,
Half a dozen painless frame buildings make
up the settlement. and of to one side under
the precipitous cliff and almost hidden by the
tangle Of va. citation that has grown up around
it stands the old iron furnace, its massive stone
walls built to withstand the wear and tear Of
NJ - ~ ...V4 Ng
and the ramshackle and ruinous shed back Of
1t the place would look like a bit OF some noble
old castle. long deserted and forgotten by a
later age. Picturesque as 1t Ia, 1t is no place
for explorative wanderings, for the great. bald
hornet which can bowl a man over like n bullet
nests there. and among the cool. moist rocks
under the shade Of the Clin one catches family
the cucumber odor that warns Of the presence
of the dangerous copperhead. 1t Is a generation
now since tho old furnace has smoked. hut in It's
time il was a mighty industry for that region.
Why il should have been established there Is
dinicult to understand, as that immediate region
is not well suited TO the needs Of a smelling
plant. Coal Is there in every ledge ana gully,
but the iron Is scant. whereas twenty miles away
in the higher ridges Of the Alleghanics there are
whole mountains made up OF the solid iron
ore. To supply the Savagetown furnace the
ore was brought across In wagons and the out
put went To Charleston, seventy-five miles away,
making the toilsome and sometimes perilous
trip down the Elk in great fatboats. Two
brothers named Savage established the furnace
eighty years ago, and il is from them that the
place takes It's present name.
Before Savagetown was. Strange Creek, at
the mouth of which the little settlement stands.
had its name. Most of the creeks which. al
most dry in the summer, pour furious torrents
into Elk in the spring have taken their names
from translatious Of the original Indian names.
as did Elk itself Big Otter and Little otter, Big
Sycamore and Little Sycamore, Big Beechy and
LittleBecchy. Big Buffalo and Little Buna Birch,
Duck Wild Goose and 30 on. Amid this nomen-
cla,ure Strange Creek stands out conspicuous.
If YOU ask the lumbermen of the region how
il got that name they will tell YOU that II Is APP
propriate to the gulch through which the stream
runs. that the rayine is unlike any OF the other
creek ~ravines. overhung with beetllng clifs
that dim II with deep shadows even at noon
day, filled with weird rock formations between
which yawn the black mouths OF uneNplored
caves, subieo, to sudden and mysterious floods
when all the other streams are trickling harmless
", infested with venomous snakes and foul
reptiles that live in the caves. rank with poison
Gus vcgetation. aud void Of the flashing bird
and insect life and the brilliant flower growth
that make the steep banks Of the Elk such a
delight to the lover OF nature. Some will even
tell ' on that the flesh Of fish or animals Killed
there is deadly and that the water runs black
al times, producing fever and delirlum In Who
kOever drinks IL.
Most Of this is. Of course, superstition, but
il is superstition not difficult to appreciate after
on" has visited NE place In the upper reaches
a certain mysterious and fOrblddlug atlnoS-
phere The air is chill and dank, the water
flows darkly over black stones or lies Still more
darkly in pools which, probably not beyond a
mans depth, give somehow the impression
Of unfathomable ADVISES THIS uncanny as
sponslhle for the name II now bears PUT ms
name did not grow up indefinitely as the luln-
bermen suppose, but was definitely given as q
legend Is TO be- believed While on "A latboat
trip in the Elk River country this summer the
writer heard the account from half a dozen
sources. some OF which were twenty or thirty
miles apart-a far distance In a country without
railroads, where visiting Is rare, and in no case
did one story differ essentially from the rest.
In the early part of this century, so. the
legend goes, three pioneers came across from
the coast and, striking Elk far W toward rs
source. burned out q. canoe in which TO make
the trip to the Kanawha and thence to the Ohio,
In those days there was no little pioneer travel
that sought Elk as q thoronghfare toward the
West and the people who live on It's banks
and back in the ravines to-day are he progeny
Of tho families who, entranCed by the beauties
OF me region, S'Nlltu llutIt anu D'tIu'dNIIu
to their descendants a love Of The Nlld noun
tains and the beautiful river that holds them
there as with bonds Of steel or the three pion-
GERS two were cousins and the third a man but
little known to either Of them, who had asked
that he be allowed to go along, Offering more
than his share in the expenses OF outtttinR.
That he was an English gentleman OF birth was
understood and II was further supposed that
he was an exile from England because al some
Disgrace that had befallen him, his compan-
ions did not even know his name, the name
under which he went being admittedly an as
sumed one.
Luck was with them during the first part OF
the trip. The river was high and swift, they
caught fish and shot plenty Of game, Only
once did they run across any OF the hostile
Indians, against whom they had been warned,
and then they were fortunate enough to
escape without having attracted the notice
Of the savages. Presently, however, their
luck changed. Harsh storms overlook them.
The river became too muddy "a fSh IN. In
one of the swif riffs their canoe was over
turned and they lost most of their provisions.
In The drenched woods tleycou'd shoot No game
Their condition became desperate. camping
at the foot Of the shOal above the creek 10 winch
they afterwaTd gave its name, they tound them
selves one morning, almost without food.
All were weakened by hardship and exposure
and the two cousins were almost discouraged
when their companion offered TO climb the
in the hopc of shooting something
"Our sufIprings are for my past sins, he
said, and | should be the one TO risk myself
in the effort 10 relieve them