The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-08-21

rock into the river, q a OF horse
manship which, to one who has seen
the rock, seems greater than that Of
General Putnam in riding down the
stone steps at the church.
Tanning and his men stopped in
their amazement, and Hunter, cross
ing the river, made good his escape.
Numerous legends cluster about
this place, which has ever since been
called Faith Rock. One of the most
interesting of the legends is concern
ing the print of a horseshoe which
can be plainly seen cut in the rock
near the waters edge. This is said
to have been made by Bay Doe in her
perilous descent.
These and many other stirring in
cidents of colonial and revolutionary
times occurred in one small part of
our State. The heroes were near
neighbors. And that is by no means
the only historic spot in North Car
DINA. Her history is full of roman
tic adventures and tragic incidents,
which happened all the way from
Roanoke Island to Kings Mountain.
But much of this history is still un-
written. Most of it is known only
through hearing old men repeat it.
For that ~reasonit is fast fading from
the memory of men. The young peO-
pie of the State are especially ignor-
ant of it, even those living almost
in sight of what should be famous
places. Only last year a ffteen-year
old schoolboy, living within two
miles of Sandy Creek church, absO-
Iutely refused to believe that the pio-
neer preacher, Shubal Stearns, was
buried there. He had been in that
graveyard several times, but had
never heard of Stearns until he saw
his name in a North Carolina his
tory. So he had not noticed the
grave stone.
The time has come when we must
know ourselves. No nation or State
has ever been great that was not
built on a great past. We have the
past history, but how can we expect
to make loyal, patriotic citizens out
of a people so many of whom have
never heard of the heroic deeds of
the brave men and women who laid
the foundation of our State? We
need to know what our institutions
cost we need to know how the build
ers of our State suffered and worked.
In no other respect has North Caro-
lima been more careless of her duty
to herself than in the matter of his
tory writing. Where will you find
worthy sketch of the settlement of
Roanoke Island, and the loss of the
colonists, the birth of Virginia Dare,
resistance to the stamp act, the var
of the Regulation, the Mecklenburg
Declaration of independence, and the
other events equally stirring and
just as influential in shaping the des-
TIMES of the State?
Who but ourselves is responsible
for this negligence? New England
history is we'll written. Were the
men of North Carolina of less
power than men-in the same pro-
feSsions-in other sections of the
country, or is it a lack of apprecia-
ton on part? Our history is we'll
worth the telling, and it ought to be
written in such q way as to make it
pleasant reading. Let some good
writer get together in a small volume
a number of the pioneer stories of
North Carolina, then let the State
put these books in the hands of the
public school children. We should
soon see the result of such a course
in a deeper and more intelligent in
terest in our State and it's institu-
tiOns.
The romantic history of the State
furnishes plenty of material for our
nOvelists. christian Reed does not
need to go to Mexico for material to
write a novel like ''The Land of the
Sun - let her open her eyes to the
things here at home. She, or some
one else, might write a stirring story
of the woman Soldier" who fought
under Vance in the civil war.
AS for poetry, we have quite as
good material as ever Great Britain
furnished Tennyson or New England
furnished Longfellow. A poem as
Evangeline or Miles Standish might