The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1931-08-20

to the headwGters of the James.
Statesmen from every section sprang
into action during the 1880 session to
combat or favor the measure.
But new and unexpected situation
presented itself. 1t was found that
the western counties held the balance
of power.
Their delegates were not slow in
pressing the advantage. They agreed
to carry the Valley Turnpike charter
through if the others would agree to
build road from the Valley to some
point on the Ohio River.
The fact that the road is there to-
day and has been for nearly hun
bred years, is evidence that they "got
what they wanted" It was completed
as far as Romney in 1887, and was
laid out by Colonel Claudius Crozet,
a distinguished military engineer who
had served under Napoleon in the
Russian Campaign and who had af-
forwards taught at West Point.
The road was used for many years
much in the same way as the National
Pike; stagecoaches travelled over it, as
did the great wagons of the men
whose profession it was to haul goods
and provisions. Covered wagons on
their way to the new lands of the
west found their way over it. Great
droves of cattle, sheep and swine were
driven over it from time to time.
Then, like the National Pike, it
had it's period of decline. A railroad
was constructed over the mountains.
Stagecoach and covered wagon be-
came obsolete. Years later the old
road, again, like the National Pike,
was granted a new lease of life. The
automobile came into being.
Although Winchester is in wide
valley you are but few minutes on
your journey from that town when
you strike the foothills, and less than
half an hour when you cross the line
from Frederick county, Virginia, into
Hampshire county, West Virginia.
You leave the Valley while you are
yet in Virginia, crossing the Great
North Mountain just before you get
to Gore. This ridge is the same as
that called Fairvew in Maryland and
forms the western wall of the wide
and we'll known Valley of Virginia.
Roads through mountains are nat
urally curved roads, but Virginia
seems to be doing a good job of
Strengthening out some of the worst
bends in her part of the Pike, and as
you travel along out of Winchester
you will perhaps see what is COM
paratively familiar sight along Vir-
/ ginia highways prison camp. This
means that road work is being done
in the vicinity.
Gentle reader, do not get the i'm
preston that these unfortunates are
desperate criminals. In most cases
they are not. Perhaps if full justice
were done you and l would be there
with them. Many of them are prob
ably bootleggers and crap-shooters,
and occasionally a razor-wielder-
men who have come into personal and
painful contact with some of civili-
zation's puzzling problems and who
have broken some of civilizations
puzzling laws, and who, instead of be-
ing placed behind iron bars, are put
at useful labor. AS we ride in COM
fort over the roads they have built
in tribulation, let US not be too con-
scious of our own virtue.
The first village reached after leav-
ing Winchester is Gore, named for the
Gore family. You are now in a graz
ing country and are likely to see
sheep from time to time in the fields
or to meet drove of them along
the highway. Sheep haven't any sense
at all. Instead of going to the side
of the road to let an approaching au-
tomobile pass, they will turn and back
and run ahead of it, covering the dis
lance they have already travelled.
You will also meet droves of young
steers being driven to market after
having been fattened on the noun
tain grass. But the steers waste no
energy. They calmly pull off to the
side of the road and let the vehicular
traffic go by.
1t is not generally known that West
Virginia has more blue grass acreage
than Kentucky or any other state.
The ideal layout for profitable stock
raising in West Virginia is valley
farm and a mountain pasture. Dur
ing the past five years the number of
sheep in West Virginia increased at
the rate of $4,000 year. There are
now 100000 sheep in the state. The
state has a beef cattle population of
100000.
Before you get to Romney you cross
the Great Cacapon River, which is
really a humble little stream which
runs by the village of Capon Bridge,
20 miles from Winchester and three
miles west of the Virginia state line,
The most interesting thing about the
town is that it has three churches for
a population of $50.
You will observe that the river has
one more "ca" in its name than the
town, and you can readily guess that
the name is of Indian origin. 1t means
"river of medicine waters" In Hardy
county, adjoining on the south, this
stream is known as Lost River. 1t
disappears beneath Sandy Ridge and
energies few miles away as Cacapon
River.
The spelling of the river appears
in a different way in the journal of an
officer who went through this part of
! Virginia with part of Braddock's
| army in 1775 on the wav from Low