43 and sunny. A beautiful start to the day, after a full-moon night.
While researching the history of Valley Falls, I came upon the following story, in Jim Comstock's West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia:
"In 1753 four settlers,, Caleb Booth, Samuel Merrifield, David Morgan, and Nathaniel Springer discovered the body of a dead woman in a canoe which was caught in the whirlpool later known as Morgan's Eddy on Tygart Valley River. The girl appeared to be about 20 years old, and had white hair which reached below her waist. The only mark on her body was a stab wound to the heart. The body was frozen stiff. The next day the men buried her there.
A view of eddies in the river, below the falls.
"The question of who killed the girl remains shrouded in mystery. George Washington recorded in his journal for December 30-31, 1753 that a group of 20 Indians reported having found a group of people killed and scalped in the Valley and mentioned that one woman with very light hair was among them. It is believed that the murdered girl was the oldest daughter of Robert Files, who was murdered with his entire family by the Indians. The girl was probably put in the canoe by the Indians mentioned by Washington and set adrift in ceremonial fashion because Indians had a mystical regard for human hair and the girl's hair was indeed unusual. The present site of Morgan's Eddy is not known, but it was undoubtedly below Valley Falls, perhaps on the Monongahela, of which the Tygart Valley River is a tributary. It might also have been an eddy below Colfax." From volume 23 of The West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, pp. 4774-4775.
What a ghostly, unnerving sight that must have been. Assuming this account is true, of course. Comstock liked to write stories that pulled the readers leg, so who knows? There is one story in the encyclopedia about a terrible water monster that inhabited one of the state's major rivers. At the end of the tale is a note that the story is entirely made up, but it seemed that the river needed a water monster, so he invented one. I am so sorry I never met Mr. Comstock--he was quite a character.
Not far from the falls is a road called Burnt Cabin Road. I can't help but wonder if the name is connected to the story about the murdered settlers. That doesn't seem too far-fetched, given the number of deadly encounters between the Native Americans and the European settlers in the 1700's in this state.
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
I wonder if they used DNA of any of present family members.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe