The Republican., 1925-10-29

pay 7Vs-s-. ewerS for their inspection.
In ajl'tion to the numerous stage
coaches end freight wagons that
passed the turnpike in early
days, it y as used by the farmers over
which - drive their herds of cattle
west of s,e Allegheny Mountains for
the sum ser pasture. returning them
in the fall As late as the early
eighties large lots of cattle, sheep,
and ducks could be seen passing over
the old II trnpike going east. Taverns
were ere.Ts, along the way to take
care OF ihe travellers and many of
these old tsverns can still be seen
standing long the route.
In entc. ,ag towns it was customary
for the stage drivers to blow long
blast from a trumpet. This was to
notify the postmaster and tavern
keeper pf .he coming of the stage.
Long after the stage coach had given
away to the locomotive old drivers
used 10 55ast of their crack teams,
and how they had driven Andrew
Jackson, Henry Clay, Thomas H. Ben
ton and General Zachary Taylor and
other celebrities safely in their way
to Washington.
From %i-zt 20 1865, years before the
construction Of the old turnpike was
started and when it was but an In
dian trail, Indians made frequent
raids Oh white settlers on the South
Branch esthe Potomac in Hampshire
county. = A. estimated that about
100 settlers were killed in the sparse
ly settled territory of Hampshire
county during that period.
A short Nay from the old turnpike
in Hampshire county there is a can
yon called Hanging Rock, where
river cur through the mountain a
sheer wall about 500 feet high on one
side II was there, according to an
old tradition that the CatawbaIndians
annihilayed a war party of the Della
wares. Tho Delawares had made
raid on the CataWbas north of Hang
z e p - "a, =, 4, ,.sed sjll'''''egs
Y pr:s5roTs and OIL their way back
bad stopped at Hanging Rock to rest
and fish. They were followed by the
Catawbas who gained control of the
precipice and caught the Delawares
in the canyon and killed them by
hurting heavy stones down upon
them. Relics Of the battle can still
be found in the fields and river bot
tom.
1t was during the many raids in
Hampshire county about 1774 that
Isaac Zane, a white youth, was cap
tured by the Indians and taken into
Ohio. He lived with the Indians near
what is now known as Chillcothe,
where he married a sister Of Wy
andotte chief. It is said that at later
times when Indians were waging war
against the white settlers in West
Virginia that Zane sent warnings to
West Virginia Of the intended raids
and that on one occasion his warning
saved the settlement of Wheeling.
Not only was the old turnpike fea-
tured in the early moments of the
settlers westward and the early In
dian wars, but it was also the scene
of many raids during the days of the
Civil War.
The raids of General Jones, Imbo-
den and jackson in the sections sur
rounding Rowlesburg, Kingwood and
Grafton will never be forgotten by
those who lived in those vicinities at
the time.
1t was at Fetterman, on the old
Northwestern Turnpike, that Bailey
Brown, the first Union soldier that
was killed in the State and probably
the first one killed in the war, lost
his life. He was a member of Com
pany B. Second West Virginia Infan-
try, and was killed May %, 1861, by
a bullet fired from an old tiintlock
rifle by Daniel W. s. knight of Cap
tain Robinson's Troop of the Twen-
ty-ffth Virginia Cavalry Regiment.
It was further east in Grant coun-
ty, that General Nathan Goff, of
Clarksburg, was taken prisoner on
January /, 1864, by the Confederate
forces. The Union forces, under COM
mand Of Colonel Joseph Snider, were
guarding supply train near Peters
burg when they were attacked by a
large force Of Confederate troops.
The Union forces lost their train and
FIVE were killed and "a wounded The
horse which General Golf was riding
was shot. and falling upon him, held
him ulti. tie Confederates came up
ard capt ued him.
After shc rcaI from Charleston to
ParlleraGarg is finished, it will give
West Virginia a connecting link be
tween the Midlano Trail in the south