Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1902-05-30
Charming Goshen Pass.

ers to THE GAZETTE, as it treats o
a matter of local interest and i
written by Mr.. James Henry Moser
who is the Art Critic of the Wash
ton Post, as will be seen from al
examination Of the Sunday issues
Of that paper. He has alsC
charge of the water color division
Of the Corcoran Art Gallery al
Washington, and has recently
placed on exhibition in Richmond
Il number Of his works, which have
awakened the most favorable com
ment.
There are mountain gaps and
passes without number i'm Virginia,
but only one Goshen Pass Com
modore Maury's famous saying,
when AIN dead carry me through
Goshen Pass and may the laurel be
in bloOm,N tells more than volumes
could of the wtchery and romantic
beauty of this wonderful spot. With
full consciousness that the real
charm of this Pass will elude any ar
rangement of descriptive words, the
writer records his impressions here
I,,sl IL.
that fills the painter with misgivings,
for knowing as he does, the deplor-
able limitations of his color-box, be
is much less confident of his COM
mand of words, for they at best
are not his medium ofexpression.
However if these lines inspire some
reader to make journey through the
gorge, that will be reason enough for
this account ola painters impressions
of his first visit to this little known
but wonderfully rich and attractive
bit of nature-"GOshen Pass"
He was black as any negro, but
with the features of a mountaineer.
He had good team of horses and
Il farm wagon and was transport
ing a car load of soft coal from the
station to the hotel. Something in
his reply to some casual question led
the writer to believe that he was Il
man of some culture and Il humOrist. |
1t ended in the writer not going TO
the livery stable, but engaging him
for Il drive through the Pass. Jud ., /
styled Mac" proved
Il delightful companion, II Confed-
crate veteran full of "reminiscences, II
farmer; and he had set type,
read proof, and even contributed an
occasional article to the newspapers
Deeply interested in scientific botany,
full of wood lore and mountain stories,
Mac is a study. In the hands of
Westcote, he might prove as interest
ing and become as famous as david
Harum." Mac introduced the writer
to the mysteries of the Pass, and,
though he he'd walked through it and
lriven through it at all hours and
seasons, his enjoyment was no less
han that of the newcomer.
BEFORE THE WAR.
Goshen Pass was famous in the old
lays. The inimitable Col. Strother,
Port Crayon in Harper's, speaks
of the Pass, when with his ,
sisters he made a tour of these -.
mountains in a carriage, and published
lis story and sketches, The Pass
vas a thQroughfare from the north
md west to Lexington and the James.
IN old resident of Goshen relates that
It one time there were as many as
welve stage coaches daily through =
he Pass, but the railroads have
hanged all this and stages no longer :,
un over the route. One meets an +,
occasional mail carrier on horseback
his feature alone of the old staging !
lays remains.
THROUGH THE PASS. -
Leaving the hotel early one morn c
ng while mist was still lying in the 9
alley and overhead, one of those c
rey, threatening skies SO dear TO an
rtist, Mac and the writer started out
~ the Pass. Turning at the Victoria i.
great iron establishment, n
hitch after long silence, is again !,
laking iron pigs from the crude ore, u
he vehicle followed little creek I.
trough IL "gap.' Praising what | h
opposed to be the entrance to the "
ass, Mac chuckled, whereupOn an |,
SplanatiOn was demanded. This II
int no Pass, this is only the gap ri
g replied After a couple of miles we N
rove out of the gap into Bells valley, fl
ne of those very fertile, thrifty spots @,
} common i'm this mountain region. NJ
short mile across this level, and we fl
acre / the Pass. The difference be- Il,
yeen gap and pass became APP fir
aren't ut once. A gap is wide Of
pening through u mountain range, RI
lille II pass is II narrow gorge or re
/ lyon. On either hand the noun n,
Il side rose 1900 feet and more, so w
eep in many places that only spruce d,
III the hardest pine could find a On
othold. In other places were tower OF
ri;