The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-01-14
GHOST STORIES
RECALL PIONEER
Trails Blazed by Solomon
Jones Serve Modern
Motor Tourists.

Ee~ndersOnville, N. C.-When a
GCap Of children returning from a
PEE1y In this picturesque mountain
tEFn late one night recently, told a
story Of seeing a towering man, with
RUEg, flowing hair, beating through the
bFWsh In the vicinity Of Mount Hebron,
GsliHwing a great r~azOr-backed SOW,
whose tail he held in his left hand,
while with his right hand he swung an
81 from side to side, parents were
ant unduiy alarmed.
To the parents Of one Of the chill
Grpn, natives Of the HendersOnville
s@r-lOn Of the Blue Ridge country, "the
eh0St with the ak" recalled the story
Gf Solomon Jones. Interrogation OF
tAe returned youthful c%elebratOrs re-
sealed that the story Of the mountain
Rt-iarch and the SOW had been n OF
several related at the party during the
eEsNning, and that the "%apparitiOn" was
tEe development OF juvenile magma
ts3n-
while there are few people super
Gsle7Ous enough to believe that Solo
EsyR Jones' ghost haunts Mount Heb
mn. every Old-timer in the section will
GZrpe that the spirit Of the rugged
R%0rntaineer, who lived to lear the
century mark, is everywhere mani
Rssr In the great modern hard-surfaced
EgIways radiating through the noun
Sins In every direction. For Solomon
I0s9S possesses the distinction Of be-
s. a. Al -.A-g.n. ~~nAnn nAnA
bH=1der whose pursuit was so recOg-
Hcz.d. Tradition holds that his razor
bReS1ed SOW, Sue, was his chief engi-
Seer
His Winding Roads.
TO those who like to romance Of the
FaSE- Solomon Jones Is referred to as
E4 trail blazer" His trails Of yes.
bR-rear are a states great highways
az today, and the sIashing Of his
batehet reverberates today through
Fso1ntain gaps in the pounding Of
~Fs,sI-making machinery.
Whether 1t Is true that when about
a. Eulld a road, Solomon Jones gripped
~ ra~zOr-backed SOW, Sue, by the tail
sF,7 followed her over the mountains,
65eking a trail as he went, will always
- Il matter of dispute before noun
E7n hresldes, but noted surveyors and
C7-Sl engineers who have visited Hen
GersOn county have marveled at the
far that old SOlOmOn's roads followed
30 lowest grades and found the nat
AL gaps through the mountains,
w. ,ch accounts for their continuous
Wsnding-sOmetimes almost like a
sp:raI stairway in their regularity.
Although Solomon Jones blazed
EP75ls as far back as the days shortly
SHOWING the War Of 1912 while he
WIS still in his teens, It was about
EfTv years ago that he completed his
Gget scenic road. This is the road to
a. lofty summit Of Mount Hebron
81 the tomb Of the old ~mOuntaineer.
y was the most popular drive taken
Bv residents Of HendersOnville and
visitors In the days Of hOrse-drawr
vehicles. Automobiles even today
Hake the summit Over this road, but
MR7gt Of the motorists, excepting those
aspiring toward hazards, prefer Il
stray on the wider hard-surfaced high
WIS, the OutgrOwth Of Solomon
k~a- Among the many other road
BHs}t by Solomon Jones was Jones
Gs5yl, named for him, which leads Il
Caesars Head in the CarOlinas. Thi
WIS constructed long before the Civi
WSTF and for more than sixty years wa
esd by Jones and his heirs as a tOl
Rz9d.
Father Of Twelve Children.
The rOad-maker was well termed tn
Grand old man Of the mountains.
Fa was, indeed, a patriarch. Standin
SIX feet two inches tall and welghin
3G0 pounds and gifted with keen II
t$5iect, he was a man who command
ea the respect Of all who knew hin
T8e father Of twelve children, ten son
and two daughters, he was credite
with adopting and bringing up seve
ether orphan children left to his car,
He was nlnety-seven years Of ag
~hen death claimed him.
Solomon Jones, because Of his lars
Emlly, which he wished see well edl
GATED, turned naturally to schools. B
was one Of the pioneers In education
af work, stumping western Mort
Carolina in an effort to get the pre-
ant public school system establishe
He thus early recognized the fact TIT
q the mountain farmer was to II
prove his condition, it would |
through the combination Of goo
schools and roads.