The Knights Of The Golden Horseshoe

On a fine day in the pleasant month of August of the year 1714 a large

party of horsemen rode along Duke of Gloucester Street, in the city of

Williamsburg, Virginia, while the men, women, and children of the place

flocked to the doors of the houses cheering and waving their

handkerchiefs as the gallant cavaliers passed by. They were gayly

dressed, in the showy costumes worn by the gentlemen of that time, and

at their h ad was a handsome and vigorous man, with the erect bearing

and manly attitude of one who had served in the wars. They were all

mounted on spirited horses and carried their guns on their saddles,

prepared to hunt or perhaps to defend themselves if attacked. Behind

them followed a string of mules, carrying the packs of the horsemen and

in charge of mounted servants.



Thus equipped, the showy cavalcade passed through the main streets of

the small town, which had succeeded Jamestown as the Virginian capital,

and rode away over the westward-leading road. On they went, mile after

mile, others joining them, as they passed onward, the party steadily

increasing in numbers until it reached a place called Germanna, on the

Rapid Ann--now the Rapidan--River, on the edge of the Spotsylvania

Wilderness.



No doubt you will wish to know who these men were and what was the

object of their journey. It was a romantic one, as you will learn,--a

journey of adventure into the unknown wilderness. At that time Virginia

had been settled more than a hundred years, yet its people knew very

little about it beyond the seaboard plain. West of this rose the Blue

Ridge Mountains, behind which lay a great mysterious land, almost as

unknown as the mountains of the moon. There were people as late as that

who thought that the Mississippi River rose in these mountains.



The Virginians had given this land of mystery a name. They called it

Orange County. There were rumors that it was filled with great forests

and lofty mountains, that it held fertile valleys watered by beautiful

rivers, that it was a realm of strange and wonderful scenes. The

Indians, who had been driven from the east, were still numerous there,

and wild animals peopled the forests plentifully, but few of the whites

had ventured within its confines. Now and then a daring hunter had

crossed the Blue Ridge into this country and brought back surprising

tales of what was to be seen there, but nothing that could be trusted

was known about the land beyond the hills.



All this was of great interest to Alexander Spotswood, who was then

governor of Virginia. He was a man whose life had been one of adventure

and who had distinguished himself as a soldier at the famous battle of

Blenheim, and he was still young and fond of adventure when the king

chose him to be governor of the oldest American colony.



We do not propose to tell the whole story of Governor Spotswood; but as

he was a very active and enterprising man, some of the things he did may

be of interest. He had an oddly shaped powder-magazine built at

Williamsburg, which still stands in that old town, and he opened the

college of William and Mary free to the sons of the few Indians who

remained in the settled part of Virginia. Then he built iron-furnaces

and began to smelt iron for the use of the people. Those were the first

iron-furnaces in the colonies, and the people called him the "Tubal Cain

of Virginia," after a famous worker in iron mentioned in the Bible. His

furnaces were at the settlement of Germanna, where the expedition made

its first stop. This name came from a colony of Germans whom he had

brought there to work his iron-mines and forges.



After what has been told it may not be difficult to guess the purpose of

the expedition. Governor Spotswood was practical enough to wish to

explore the mysterious land beyond the blue-peaked hills, and romantic

enough to desire to do this himself, instead of sending out a party of

pioneers. So he sent word to the planters that he proposed to make a

holiday excursion over the mountains, and would gladly welcome any of

them who wished to join.



We may be sure that there were plenty, especially among the younger

men, who were glad to accept his invitation, and on the appointed day

many of them came riding in, with their servants and pack-mules, well

laden with provisions and stores, for they looked on the excursion as a

picnic on a large scale.



One thing they had forgotten--a very necessary one. At that time iron

was scarce and costly in Virginia, and as the roads were soft and sandy,

as they still are in the seaboard country, it was the custom to ride

horses barefooted, there being no need for iron shoes. But now they

were about to ride up rocky mountain-paths and over the stony summits,

and it was suddenly discovered that their horses must be shod. So all

the smiths available were put actively at work making horseshoes and

nailing them on the horses' feet. It was this incident that gave rise to

the name of the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," as will appear

farther on.



At Germanna Governor Spotswood had a summer residence, to which he

retired when the weather grew sultry in the lower country. Colonel

William Byrd, a planter on the James River, has told us all about this

summer house of the governor. One of his stories is, that when he

visited there a tame deer, frightened at seeing him, leaped against a

large mirror in the drawing-room, thinking that it was a window, and

smashed it into splinters. It is not likely the governor thanked his

visitor for that.



After leaving Germanna the explorers soon entered a region quite unknown

to them. They were in high spirits, for everything about them was new

and delightful. The woods were in their full August foliage, the streams

gurgling, the birds warbling, beautiful views on every hand, and the

charm of nature's domain on all sides. At mid-day they would stop in

some green forest glade to rest and pasture their horses, and enjoy the

contents of their packs with a keen appetite given by the fresh forest

air.



To these repasts the hunters of the party added their share,

disappearing at intervals in the woods and returning with pheasant, wild

turkey, or mayhap a fat deer, to add to the woodland feast. At night

they would hobble their horses and leave them to graze, would eat

heartily of their own food with the grass for table-cloth and a fresh

appetite for sauce, then, wrapping their cloaks around them, would sleep

as soundly as if in their own beds at home. The story of the ride has

been written by one of the party, and it goes in much the way here

described.



The mountains were reached at length, and up their rugged sides the

party rode, seeking the easiest paths they could find. No one knows just

where this was, but it is thought that it was near Rockfish Gap, through

which the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad now passes. There are some who

say that they crossed the valley beyond the Blue Ridge and rode over the

Alleghany Mountains also, but this is not at all likely.



When they reached the summit of the range and looked out to the west,

they saw before them a wild but lovely landscape, a broad valley through

whose midst ran a beautiful river, the Shenandoah, an Indian name that

means "daughter of the stars." To the right and left the mountain-range

extended as far as the eye could reach, the hill summits and sides

covered everywhere with verdant forest-trees. In front, far off across

the valley, rose the long blue line of the Alleghanies, concealing new

mysteries beyond.



The party gazed around in delight, and carved their names on the rocks

to mark the spot. A peak near at hand they named Mount George, in honor

of George I., who had just been made king, and a second one Mount

Alexander, in honor of the governor, and they drank the health of both.

Then they rode down the western slope into the lovely valley they had

gazed upon. Here they had no warlike or romantic adventures, fights with

Indians or wild beasts, but they had a very enjoyable time. After a

delightful ride through the valley they recrossed the mountains, and

rode joyously homeward to tell the people of the plain the story of what

they had seen.



We have said nothing yet of the Golden Horseshoe. That was a fanciful

idea of Governor Spotswood. He thought the excursion and the fine valley

it had explored were worthy to be remembered by making them the basis of

an order of knighthood. He was somewhat puzzled to think of a good name

for it, but at length he remembered the shoeing of the horses at

Williamsburg, so he decided to call it the Order of the Golden

Horseshoe, and sent to England for a number of small golden horseshoes,

one of which he gave to each of his late companions. There was a Latin

inscription on them signifying, "Thus we swear to cross the mountains."

When the king heard of the expedition, he made the governor a knight,

under the title of Sir Alexander Spotswood, but we think a better title

for him was that he won for himself,--Sir Knight of the Golden

Horseshoe.