The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1927-08-18

slow stages by motor. But Tor the
most part it is advisable to make these
pilgrimages on horseback or afoot.
For the trails are none other than
those blazed by restless Indians in
their wanderings over this once natu
raj and immense game preserve and
the sound of motorists horn would
be striynge music, indeed, to the hills.
This is a fortunate circumstance, for
too bold modernization of the set
ting could not help robbing the God
made spectacles of their splendor.
Picking the Show Places.
What, then, are the show places of
this new forest and where may they
be found?
The cap-sheaf of them all, perhaps,
is the famous Seneca Rocks-a stern
and mighty exposure of Tuscarora
quartzite that for now these thous-
ands of years has reared its jagged
peaks some 900 feet toward the clouds
beggaring description. At the mouth
of Seneca Creek they stand, forming
the northern side of an immense notch
that a turbulent little stream has
sawed into North Fork Mountain.
All drab and brown and reddish and
green, they keep their silent, majestic
vigil over the dancing streams at the
base and the adjoining farmlands
that once were the camp grounds of
the mighty Shawnees. Sometimes, in
brilliant sunshine, they glisten and
twinkle in their skyward pose. But
when seasonal rains sweep up and
down the canyon they bury them
selves in the billowing fog banks.
Magnificent View.
A view of rare magnificence awaits
! the intrepid soul who dares to scale
these heights. AS from the spires of
a gigantic cathedral he may survey
the meanderings of the swift little
North Fork of the Potomac. Up Sem
eca Greek, to the west, he may trace
the established trail of the Indians as
they pushed on to Ohio and the West
ern frontier. He has a commanding
view of small but fertile fields that
line the sides of the streams.
Many are the legends that persist
in the region of this giant crag of the
ages. One of them, and typical, con-
Germs comely Indian maiden of the
mighty Shawnees whose heart was
sought by the hardest of the male
warriors. Herself a romanticist, the
Indian girl hit upon scheme in which
she enlisted the aid Of the towering
rocks in choosing her companion. She
would marry the one who would climb
with her to the topmost ledge.
A half dozen sturdy bucks began
the ascent with her. 1t was a FOOLS
adventure, but the prize was enough.
Up and up they clambered. At length
two or three of them wearied and
gave up. One fell back and was
killed. Still another renowned his
claim and turned back. At last the
little maiden reached the top and only
one of her avowed lovers continued
after her.
He, too, was about to reach the
crest. But no, he was becoming faint
and weak. Though victory was al
most within his grasp he was about
to slip back to destruction. Where
upon the girl leaned over the preci-
pice, grasped the hand of her sutton
and drew him to safety and to her.
Scores of Legends.
There are scores of these Indian
legends. And always, in reciting them,
the residents of this Seneca Rock
country drift into the recorded facts
of the massacres of white settlers by
these hostile Indians.
History has much to say of these
periodic raids upon white settlements
for the avenging of real and imagined
injuries, and over the country may be
found the remnants of number of
colonial stockades or forts whittier the
white man sought refuge when the
redskin was on the war path.
One of these was Hinkle's Fort,
situated a short distance from the
North Fork near the village of River
ton. Across the mountain was Fort
Upper Tract, and still further to the
east, almost at the Virginia line,
was Fort Seybert. Chronicles of Pen
dleton's 7rly history have told in
much detail of the bitter fights that
have been waged about these rude
forts and the historian of today takes
pride in discovery of the ruins of these
Ravens of safety.
Last Indian Raid.
A short distance from the Seneca
Rocks, near what is now the village of
Onego, the inhabitants point to the
scene of the last Indian molestation of
white people. Here the raid was led
by Timothy Dorman, white rene
gade, and the victim was young
daughter of William Gregg.
Alone in the house, the girl was
scalped and left for dead. When men,
bers of her family returned and found
that life was not yet extinct, they