Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1951-05-31

Now that the State Roads Com
mission is spending millions of dol
lars on route No. 40, and its off
shoot No. 240, we think the resi-
dents of upper Montgomery will b.
interested in this mystery stor!
from the files of our good friend
Miss Lucy Leigh, Bowie.
1t is a tale written long age
about the upper reaches of the In.
dian trail which later became
known as Braddock Road. Since
the Braddock Road is known to
have passed through or near the
present town of Observation-Disclosures
still extant prove that he stayed
at Ovens Ordinary-it should in
terest this county. The Dorsey
family, a member of which is
supposed to have experienced the
adventure, has many descendants
here.
Now Miss Lucy takes over:
The new United States of Ameri-
ca came into possession of rich
western lands, and in order to deve-
lop them it was necessary that
direct communication be establish
ed between the eastern seaboard
and the west.
By March, 1906, Congress had
passed an act to build a natural
road from Cumberland to the Ohio
River. President jefferson signed
the bill and appointed three COM
missioners to lay out the road
with Col. Ellie Williams, of Will
Transport, as chairman. The Com
missioners then employed Josias
Thompson, "a surveyor of profess
sional merits" as construction
engineer, who in turn assembled
his corps, and it is said the work
began in 1911. The new road was
to follow the old Indian trail, later
called the Braddock Road. Some
what improved by Braddock, it
soon reverted to it's original state,
overgrown with laurel-strewn
with rocks and fallen logs. The
road would be lost to view in some
places and then appear again.
At the time Of this story the
construction work had reached the
western slope of Great Savage
Mountain but had not yet reached
the dense forest known as the
"Shades of Death" The Great
Savage Mountain had been the last
sanctuary of the Indians in Mary
land. 1t was there their signal
fires were lighted, their pow-wows
held, their war dances staged and
where they buried their dead.
The Shades, of Death" lay bet
ween that and Meadow Mountain.
1t was described as "the most dis
NAL place ever seen"-the trees
were so tall and thick that day..
light hardly penetrated. The road
was narrow and so thickly carpeted
with pine needles they muffled
every footfall-the only sound. to
be heard was breeze signing
through the treetops and occasion
ally the harsh cry of a blue jay.
Such was the terrain with which
those road builders had to contend.
But our beautiful Route 40 high
way is the ultimate result of their
efforts.
The following is tale brought
back from the western frontier"
by two young city men who were
assistant surveyors to Josias
Thompson. Their name have been
forgotten but the impression re-
mains that one of them was
Dorsey.
The men in command of the
corps were quartered at a tavern
on the western slope of Savage
Mountain. One Saturday night in
midsummer these two young men
were invited to a "Reaping Frolic"
and were informed that it would. be
very merry" The farm where
the frolic was to be held was locat-
ed only mile from their quarters
and as they had been there a
number of times they decided to
walk. The tavern keeper urged
them not to do SO, stating that no
body walked when they could ride
if they got lost their horses
could bring them home. The wise
acres were laughed at for their
pains-the young surveyors pro-
tested that they had been to the
farm dozen times in daylight.
Besides, the moon was full and it
would be bright as day all night.
The "Reaping Frolic" fulfilled
it's promise. By midnight the
merrymaking had become bolster
Gus but no one had thought of
leaving. At one o'clock the young
men had become tired and decided
to sneak away. They started off
on the road to the tavern, were
soon out of sight and beyond the
sound of the fiddles into the peace
of the summer night, flooded with
moonlight.
They found, however, that the
moon cast weird shadows-that the
path was uncertain and sometimes
vanished entirely and then would
appear again. On looking at their