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1800
S
١
With the Kind Regards of Beim Friend R.H. Hlaych
May 10, 1851
THE
ROCKS
OF
DEER CREEK,
HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND.
THEIR LEGENDS AND HISTORY.
BY THOMAS TURNER WYSONG, 1 OF " SHIRLEY, NEAR THE ROCKS."
TWO ILLUSTRATIONS.
BALTIMORE: PRINTED BY A. J. CONLON, No. 23 SOUTH STREET. 1880
Fish HaWga
Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1880, BY THOMAS TURNER WYSONG, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
TO MY FRIENDS OF MARYLAND AND OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, OF PENNSYLVANIA, AND OF VIRGINIA AS IT WAS TERRITORIALLY AT THE DATE OF MY BIRTH, MAY 20, 1817, THIS BOOK OF
Suterwonen and Intermingled Haet and Hautt,
Is AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR.
.
INTRODUCTION.
MY residence is about a mile, as the bird flies, from the celebrated Rocks of Deer Creek. I first saw this great natural curiosity in the Spring of 1844. I was then young, and did not dream that my advanced years would be passed almost under its shadows. But He who appoints the bounds of our habitations has so ordered. To-day I occupy the place which I have named, for peculiar reasons, "Shirley, near the Rocks."
Since I have lived in this locality I have been ob- servant of much apparent interest in the Rocks, and have read numerous compositions, both in prose and poetry, descriptive of them. These were generally the essays of the young, inspired by the beauties and sub- limities of the scenes around them. Of the objects seen, none have excited more interest than the King and Queen Seats. Who made them ?- for what pur- pose were they used ?- have been frequent enquiries. These interrogatories suggested the writing of "The Last King and Queen of the Rocks of Deer Creek." Having done so for the instruction and entertainment of the young people especially, it occurred to me that a series of sketches, mingling fact with fancy, might give them pleasure, and, perhaps, be of some profit to them. These I have written, and they are to be found in this small and unpretentious volume.
1
6
INTRODUCTION.
I hope that the character of these compositions will give offence to no one, not even the most conscientious. They are, indeed, the interweaving of fact with fancy, but the facts are more numerous than one would imag- ine who has not studied the locality and its history as I have done. Add to these facts the laws, customs and usages of the original inhabitants of the country, re- ferred to in these stories, and the amount of absolute fiction is not great. My apology for the presence of fic- tion at all is, that it is, as I use it, a mirror-a reflection. of the truth. Nature responds to imagination, and imagination is the handmaid of Nature. Shakespeare is read by all, not because his characters and scenes are not fictitious, but rather because his imaginings mirror the truths of Nature. That sublimest creation of poetic genius, the Book of Job, the Divine inspiration of which is not doubted, is a sacred drama, the persons of which, though they may not have had existence in fact, are nevertheless real, because they are truthful. Paradise Lost and the Pilgrim's Progress are both creations of fancy, but not therefore pernicious. If strict, literal fact is alone to be tolerated, then all books embellished with the colors of imagination must be discarded, though imagination be the medium for the conveyance of truth.
I am the more solicitous that the facts and truthful fancies of this book shall be read, because of the changes that will be wrought by the improvements now in prog- ress and promised in the vicinity of the Rocks. The iron horse will soon be running along our streams and through our valleys, the smoke of the locomotive will
7
INTRODUCTION.
curl its wreaths about the summits of the Rocks, par- tially hiding them from view. The substitution of the realities of the commercial and business life for the poetries of undisturbed Nature is inevitable.
THE AUTHOR.
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION.
THE favor with which the first edition of one thou- sand copies of " THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK; THEIR LEGENDS AND HISTORY," has been received, encour- ages the issue of a second edition indefinitely large. The sale of so many copies in so brief a space of time shows that the interest is in the Rocks as a natural curiosity of great attraction ; and this fact is a compli- ment to the intelligence and taste of the many who have purchased and read the book. Of the hundreds who were courteously solicited to patronize this home production, scarce a half-dozen lacked courtesy in their refusal to do so, and charity believes that the majority of this insignificant number were prompted by no un- worthy motives. Occasionally there is found in the forests a rare bird, in the waters a rare fish, in the fields a rare beast; why, therefore, should it be thought a strange thing when there is found occasionally among those animals who, as has been scientifically determined, possess the qualities and characteristics of all the infe- rior animals, one to whom the presentation of a book constitutes a grave offence. Some members of the genus homo-the microcosm-never read a book, not because they have no knowledge of letters, but because all letters are offensive to them.
10
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION.
Care has been taken in making up the present edi- tion to avoid as much as possible the defects and blemishes of the first. Both grammatical and typo- graphical errors exist in the former, and fortunate it will be if none shall be found in the latter. The effort to secure perfection of form will be appreciated, and the failure to do so will be forgiven by all generous readers.
This book is larger; other legends have been added ; the facts and incidents are more numerous. It is large enough. We launch our boat, which, though not
as goodly and strong and staunch As ever weathered a wintry sea,"
will nevertheless, we hope,
sail securely, and safely reach The Fortunate Isles, on whose shining beach The sights we see, and the sounds we hear, Will be those of joy, and not of fear."
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
-
PAGE.
Title.
1
Dedication
3
Introduction
5
Introduction to Second Edition
9
Description of the Rocks
13
Razuka ; a Legend of Rock Ridge Lake. 15
The Last King and Queen of the Rocks of Deer Creek. 22
The Last Indian of Deer Creek 28 The Hermit of the Otter Rock. 33 .
The Robber's Den; or, The Learned Philologist 41 The Enchantress of Hunting Ridge 46
The Aged Trapper, Hunter and Fisherman of the Indian Cupboard 51
The Mine Old Fields ; or, The Gathering of the Witches
.
58
The Falling Branch ; or, The Captured Bride. 64
The Eagle ..
71
The Witch Rabbit 72
The Big Snake.
73
Whitsuntide.
74
The Perilous Feat
75
An Act of Vandalism 76
Canal and Railroad. 77
The Original Moonshiner
79
The Monuments of the Giants 81
The Field of Darts
84
The Chrome Pits. 86 The Slate Quarries 87
The Horse Epidemic and the Guinea- Man's Pony
89
The Church of the Rocks
92
12
CONTENTS.
Mike's Rock PAGE.
94
The Ancient Mill and the Honest Miller. 95
The Oldest Inhabitant
98
The Youngest Inhabitants 100
The Original Inhabitants 101
The Massacre of the Mingoes. 103
Rocks Literature. 105
Introduction thereto 106
Selections therefrom, in Prose and Poetry. 107
a. Description of the Rocks in Prose 107
b. Stanzas on King and Queen Seats. 107
c. Description of the Rocks in Poetry.
108
d. The Fern.
109
e. The Old Mill 112
A Prophecy .
116
Mason and Dixon's Line 122
A Literary Curiosity. 123
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Rocks of Deer Creek Front of Title.
The Falling Branch. .Page 64
THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ROCKS.
THE Rocks of Deer Creek are in Harford County, Maryland, distant nine miles north-east of Bel Air, the county seat, and seven miles south of the boundary line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. The waters of Deer Creek, forcing their way at an indefinite time past through Rock Ridge, have left on either side an immense pile of massive rocks, three hundred and eighty-five feet in height, which, with the plunging waters of the romantic river which runs at their base and the contiguous scenes, constitute a rare picture of sublimity and beauty. The western rocks are more accessible, and of great- er attraction to visitors. The view from them is less obstructed and more distant, embracing within its range hill and dale, forest and field, river and brook, farm-house and hamlet. On them are the King and Queen Seats. To the verge of their pre- cipice was driven, by a madman, Bold Hector, that noble horse, which was as deserving of a monu- ment as was Bucephalus, the war horse of Alexan- der. At their base the Eagle was killed, and also the last wolf and the last deer. These, with other historical incidents, increase the interest felt in the Rocks, the monuments of mighty and mysterious forces exerted in the unknown past.
2
14
THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK.
Every genuine Harfordonian is enthusiastic in his admiration of the Rocks. They are with him the Great Curiosity ; they belong to him; he is proud of them. He loves them, because associated with them are memories of happy hours passed with congenial associates on their summits or at their base by the waters of his favorite stream. Their inspirations are sweet to him, and their pres- ence creates sympathies loving and tender. In their presence he has a higher appreciation of Na- ture, and an intenser sympathy with the spirit of poetry which dwells amid such scenes. Here, as beautifully expressed by our own great poet, whose highest, purest inspirations are due to that "sweet spirit which fills the world ;" here, amid everlast- ing hills, mountain and shattered cliff, and green valley, and river and brook, and the silent majesty of deep woods-
In many a lazy syllable repeating Their old poetic legends to the winds,
his thoughts are uplifted from earth. And such also is the interest he feels in the general library of the Rocks, consisting of many volumes of rare in- formations.
Will the coming of the Railroad and the devel- opment of the commercial and business life, as has been feared, lessen the attractions of the Rocks ? The poetries of Nature will still be there, and the presence of the accidents of artificial life may heighten by contrast the interest, making the poet- ries of Nature more poetical. Happily, the ap- proach by the Railroad, especially from the South, will open up a view of the Rocks surpassing in at-
15
THEIR LEGENDS AND HISTORY.
tractiveness. Passengers from that direction, in crossing the bridge over the Creek at the head of the dam, will have a view of the upper portion of the Rocks, which by a well known quality of the mind will exaggerate the whole picture. Mightier structures they will seem to be, having their found- ations in greater depths, because their summits tower upward, touching the heavens. The Rocks, their legends and history, the poetries of Nature made more poetical by the contrasts suggested by the thundering train and smoking locomotive, will ever be sources of interest ; and that singular en- thusiasm felt by those whose dwelling-places are not distant from the Great Curiosity will abide.
RAZUKA;
A LEGEND OF ROCK RIDGE LAKE.
THE Rocks of Deer Creek are the great natural curiosity of Harford County, Md. Who first dis- covered them? What was their condition at the time of discovery ? These questions may not be ca- pable of satisfactory answers. A tradition of the distant and uncertain past is that the first white man who visited that locality did not find it as it now is. Instead of the gorge, and the rocks, and the river running at their base, there was an impact
16
THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK.
rock ridge, holding against its gigantic breast the waters of a mighty lake, and throwing from its sum- mit, four hundred feet in height, the waters of Deer Creek. The physical features of the ridge, and the characteristics of the low lands for at least five miles above it, justify the conjecture that the tradition- ary lake and cataract are not myths. In the ab- sence of certain historical information, it may be allowable to accept the tradition as in accordance substantially with the facts. Of the name of the first discoverer we have no available knowledge. If his name is recorded, it may be found in some musty volume of some foreign library. There is a bare possibility that some adventurer, associated with the expedition of the celebrated Captain John Smith, the founder of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, who in his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, sailed as far as the mouth of the Sus- quehanna river, may have heard, on the arrival of the expedition at that locality, of the wonders of the not distant wilderness-scarce a day's journey -and that he was the first civilized man who gazed
It upon those wonderful exhibitions of nature. may be that to a Jesuit father, who had penetrated the wilderness in the prosecution of his sacred mis- sion, the honor of discovery is due. These holy fathers were the earliest explorers of our Western territories and inland seas and rivers. They were the spiritual guides and counsellors of many of the North American Indians, and in the furtherance of their work rescued many a wonder of nature from the gloom of the primeval forest. But even though these conjectures be inadmissible, and we should be left to the judgment that at the discovery of this
17
THEIR LEGENDS AND HISTORY.
continent by Columbus, in 1492, the Rocks and the Ridge were essentially what they are at the present time, such a conviction does not destroy our faith in the existence of the lake and fall at some more dis- tant period in the past. The testimony of the ridge and valleys assures our belief. We naturally regret that the pent-up waters of Deer Creek exerted so soon that resistless energy which clove asunder a mountain and reduced their volume to the compar- atively small stream of to-day. There is beauty in the sinuous Deer Creek, threading its way between abrupt wooded hills and along fertile valleys ; also sublimity in the Rocks and rapids as they now are ; but how much more of grandeur in the mighty lake and the lofty cataract, rivalling the Falls of Mont- morenci or those of the Yosemite Valley.
An ancient bard, whose name is unknown, sang of the Rocks of Deer Creek :
A bare and isolated rock, On which no tuft of moss has ever grown; In front a precipice descends far down, Where a rapid river sweeps along.
Behind, nature has shaped an opening in the cliff (Which looks with frowning brows upon the scene), To the resemblance of a lovely garden ;
There wild flowers bloom, and scent the evening breeze ; There birds resort and warble all day long; There lovers meet and whisper tales of love.
I have italicized the last line, and for two reasons ; first, because it is as true of the present as the past ; and second, because it recalls the legend of the Lake and the Rocks, which was learned from the aged and venerable hermit of the Otter Rock.
There once lived on the northern borders of the lake, in the wigwam of her father, a noted chieftain 2*
18
THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK.
in his day, an Indian maiden of exceeding beauty and rare fascination. This latter statement may be received with incredulity by those who have not had the opportunity of observing the North Ameri- can Indians in their natural state, removed from the contamination of civilization. The hermit assured me that it is nevertheless true, and I proceed in his own language to describe the attractions of Razuka, the Beauty of the Lake :
" Slender, delicate and elastic as a reed swaying in the currents of a gentle breeze, above the ordi- nary height, while all the outlines of her graceful figure displayed the lithe and fragile symmetry of girlish years with the mature development of perfect womanhood. Her brow and face were dark, and the rich blood crimsoned her full pouting lips, and flushed peach-like through the golden hue of her cheeks with as warm a tide as ever burned in the impassioned cheeks of an Anglo-Norman beauty. Her long straight hair was of the deepest black. Her eyes had the long almond orbits and long fringed lashes, which are deemed the rarest charms of Ital- ian beauty, and the large soft pupils of the deepest, clearest hazel swam in a field of nacry bluish lustre, which could be compared to nothing but the finest mother-of-pearl. Her teeth were of perfect white- ness, and her features had a harmony and unison entirely their own, a soft, tranquil, half unconcious majesty of stillness."
Such is the very imperfect recollection of the de- scription of the beauty of Razuka, the loveliest of her tribe. Habituated to labor, as all Indian women are, it was but pastime to paddle the light bark canoe, which was her favorite employment. On
19
THEIR LEGENDS AND HISTORY.
the lake alone, angling for the fish which abounded in it, she passed many days of her happy life. This life, so free from the anxieties and perplexities of the artificial life of civilized communities, might have been protracted indefinitely but for the pos- session of the personal attractions that entitled her to the name she bore, Razuka, the Beauty of the Lake. Not only the young men of her own tribe, but those of other and distant tribes, were wont to seek her presence at the wigwam of her father, or gathering on the shores of the lake, gaze with fixed look upon the Beauty shooting her frail canoe with the speed of the arrow through the glassy waters. At one time, having passed entirely over the lake to the opposite shore, she was attracted by the beauty of a wild rose, some distance from the bank, and was about making an effort to secure it, when she heard the rumbling of the not distant thunder. Turning her face to the west, she observed a por- tentous storm-cloud gathering on the horizon. Anxious, she turned the prow of the boat home- ward and rowing with energy, reached the middle of the lake, when the storm fell in its fury upon the waters. Standing upon the shore near the wig- wam was a young man of another tribe, who had been smitten by the charms of Razuka, and solicit- ous for the welfare of her whose life was evidently imperilled, entered hurriedly a canoe lying near by, and pushed out rapidly upon the storm-lashed lake to rescue, if possible, the endangered. Happily he reached her, and taking her into his stronger boat, after almost superhuman exertion, brought her in safety to her home. The rescuer, whose timidity had hitherto deterred him from any marked demon-
20
THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK.
stration of interest in Razuka, now very naturally hoped that the heroic deed he had done would re- commend him to the favorable consideration of the chief, the father of the saved ; and having awakened the sentiment of gratitude in the mind of the daughter, it might eventually lead to the possession of the prize he coveted. Under ordinary circum- stances, such doubtless would have been the case, but unhappily for the cherished hopes of the noble rescuer, Razuka had, unknown to her family, re- ciprocated the affections of another. Chocorea, the son of a Maquas chief, was the favored one. The father of Razuka, ignorant that the interest of his daughter was endangered, and feeling the obliga- tion of gratitude, would have encouraged the aspi - rations of the saviour of his idolized child. He intimated to Razuka that possibly her union with the Swan might promote her happiness, and if so, to himself the alliance would not be objectionable. Desirous to undeceive her father, and unwilling that her rescuer should cherish a hope that could not be realized, she frankly declared that her heart belonged to another-to Chocorea, the son of the chief of the Massawomikes, the inveterate foes of her tribe.
"Never," said the chief, her father, "shall the daughter of a Susquehannock wed the son of a Maquas," (the Massawomikes were sometimes so called.) "The Maquas are dogs. These forests had been from time immemorial the undisturbed hunting-grounds of my people, and in this lake they caught at pleasure the white belly and the blue fin, and below the falls, in the water of our river, the shad, the herring and the eel ; and my
21
THEIR LEGENDS AND HISTORY.
people had hoped that they would sit by their fires unmolested, and smoke their pipes in peace while sun and moon endured ; but, alas ! in an evil day the prowling wolves of the frozen lakes and haunted forests, the sneaking Maquas, came, and but for the strength of my arm and the arms of my noble braves, many of whom fell by the arrows of the hated ones, my people would have been swept from the earth, as the north wind sweeps the dry leaves from the woodlands. Murderers the Maquas are- robbers, sneaks ! No Maquas shall ever wed the daughter of Nieskan, the Susquehannock, and the life of the insolent shall atone for his presumption." This threat was put into execution.
In the twilight of the same evening when these ominous words were uttered, Razuka met Chocorea in the glen (their usual place of meeting), in the rear of her father's wigwam. That interview was hurried and anxious, and resulted in the determin- ation of Razuka to leave the wigwam of her father for the distant home of her hated lover. A meet- ing was appointed for the ensuing evening to de- termine the time and mode of their departure. That interview never took place. On the morning of that day, by the hand of the angered father, Chocorea, the lover of Razuka, was slain, and his body was thrown into the lake. The report of a firearm announced the fearful tidings to Razuka, and life for her had no further charms.
Standing, like some grim sentinel, on the south- ern border of the lake, was a gigantic and precipit- ous rock, which threw its shadows upon its waters. To the summit of this eminence Razuka, imme- diately upon the report of the death of Chocorea,
22
THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK.
made her way, and, fastening to her body a stone of heavy weight, secured by a cord made of the bark of the birch tree, threw herself into the dark waters.
-" On the strand Two sleeping bodies afterward were found, Chocorea and Razuka, joined in death As they had been in life. Their spirits, too, (So the untutored children of the woods Believed) had gone to happier grounds- The Red Man's paradise-to live and love Forever there."
And furthermore, the legend says that at that lone rock, where Razuka met her fate, is seen at summer eve a great enchantress,
-" Who will sometimes pour Such glowing tales of love into your ear, That, in a transport, you will spread your arms, And clasp a lovely vision."
THE LAST KING AND QUEEN OF THE ROCKS OF DEER CREEK.
ON the right bank of Deer Creek, nearly oppo- site the present residence of E. S. Rogers, Esq., was, two centuries ago, a village of the Susquehan- nock Indians. Five miles above, on the same stream, fifty yards from where the mill of James Stansbury, Esq., is located, was another village of
23
THEIR LEGENDS AND. HISTORY.
the same Indians. Two and one-half miles south- east of the Rocks, on the land now in the occupancy of Bennett Grafton, Esq., was a third village. Each of these villages had its own chief, but, for mutual protection and aid, were confederate, ac- knowledging the supremacy of the chief whose location was in the vicinity of the Rocks. This chief bore the not uncommon Indian name of Bald Eagle. The chief of the upper village was Great Bear ; of the lower, Lone Wolf.
In the autumn of the year Lone Wolf, accom- panied by several of his braves, visited the Iroquois, then living in the northern part of what is now the State of New York. While there he became en- amoured with an Ojibway maiden, who had been captured by the Iroquois in her infancy ; and adopt- ed by their chief, was brought up in his wigwam as his own daughter. The stay of the visitors was protracted until the snow began to whiten the earth and the ice to cover the waters, and Lone Wolf would fain have tarried until the snow and ice were melted again. In the charms of the Fern-Shaken- by-the-Wind, as she had been named by her captors, he had found an attraction stronger than that he felt for his own people in the South country. But fail- ing in his efforts to win the affections of the Fern, he resorted to diplomacy, hoping that time, with assiduity of attention, would soften the maiden's heart, and she would ultimately become his wife. The time of his departure having come, he besought the Iroquois chief to allow his adopted daughter and her brother to accompany him to his distant home, promising to return them safely, and laden with valuable presents, when the trees put forth
24
THE ROCKS OF DEER CREER.
their leaves again. This request was granted. The Fern and her brother accompanied Lone Wolf to his home. Two moons after their arrival the braves of the three confederate villages were summoned to attend a great council, to be held at the Rocks. At the time appointed Bald Eagle and his wife, as was their custom on such occasions, took their places in the seats on the Rocks known as the King and Queen seats, the braves of the tribe and their confederates sitting upon the ground be- neath or leaning against the interspersed trees. At a short distance beyond the circle of the assembled warriors sat the women and children of the tribes and their Iroquois visitors. The Fern and her brother listened attentively to the speeches of the different orators. Nor were they unobserved, the maiden particularly. She could not fail to at- tract attention, for to perfection of form and great symmetry of features, was added a dignity of man- ner rarely equaled. Among the braves most attract- ed by the charms of the Fern was The-Bird-that- Flies-High, eldest son of Bald Eagle, and prospec- tive heir to the supreme chieftainship or kingship, as it was sometimes designated. This young brave, taking advantage of a short recess had by the coun- cil, approached the Fern, and offered her as a pres- ent a trinket of exceeding brilliancy and apparently of great value, which she graciously accepted. This was observed by Lone Wolf, who, under the influ- ence of an unconcealed jealousy, rushed to the spot where the maiden and her admirer were standing, and seizing the trinket, violently wrenched it from her hands, and throwing it upon the ground, tram- pled it under his feet. Ordinarily such an act
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