Tom Moses’ Trips – West Virginia, 1885
“The peculiar beauty of the [Blackwater] Falls is due, however, to the unapproachably wild surroundings, the river being enclosed between two ramparts of mountains. Down the precipices of one side [John H.] Young and I climbed, but the wall of rock on the other side is too sheer; the foot of man has never scaled it. Vines and elk-wood cover both sides, from the airy summit to the rushing brown water below. It is the inaccessible, utter solitude of the place which gives it its singular charm. After you have reached it, at the risk of your life, you think of it forever after with a sense of possession – it belongs to you, and to no one else. At the foot of the falls is a well about twelve feet deep, worn smooth and round by the action of the rock of a loose stone which the water has revolved incessantly but never had enough force to drive out.
The wilderness runs back from the river hundreds of miles and is, as yet, literally unexplored by civilized people, according to the word of our landlord Davis. There is a house named Koesson’s somewhere in the wilderness, where a German of the name, together with four other families, settled fifty years ago. They never appeared in the settlement, lived upon game and a few pigs, dressed in skins and had all property in common. “They took nyther law, decency nor God in that wilderness,” said the landlord, and I reckon they haven’t found any to speak of since.
An energetic explorer of this range of mountains, from Pittsburg, succeeded, in the summer of 1878, in taking a boat and launching it in Blackwater. It was the first one that had ever insulted that untamed little savage of a stream. He proposes to finish his work by venturing into the heart of Canaan, as the natives call the wilderness, and unearth this barbarous tribe.
We spent a day near the Dobbin House – a ruined old building within three miles of Davis. The landlord informed us that it was built by a Judge Dobbin at the outbreak of the Civil War. He wanted to escape the worry and excitement, so he settled here until the strife was over, then moved back to civilization, leaving a lot of cheap furniture and cooking utensils for the use of sportsman, artists and guides, with a request “not to remove anything as souvenirs but make use of everything and occupy the house as long as you wish.” It was a large two-story affair, with a mammoth stone fire-place and was certainly a good shelter for anyone. I fear it will not remain there much longer as there is no one to repair it and it was beginning to decay when we visited it twenty years after Judge Dobbin had left it.”
To be continued
I was researching “Koessen’s house” for this installment when something caught my eye in an internet search! “Koesson’s” actually appeared in an article written for In Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (No. CCCLXII. July 1880, Vol. LXI, pages 167 to 185.). I was shocked when I read the paragraph in the article and realized that it was the same location Moses mentioned in his story for the Palette & Chisel newsletter. The 1880 Harper’s magazine article was written by Rebecca Harding Davis and titled, “By-paths in the Mountains.” It explores the landscape and history of West Virginia through the eyes of its fictional adventurers, including the falls of Blackwater and Dobbins House. Her travelers journey in the same country that Moses, Young and Tryon would explore five years later. Could this article have been their incentive? As I carefully read the entire article again, I experienced a sense of déjà vu and noticed something else.
Here is the 1880 paragraph in Harper’s Magazine: “The wilderness upon whose edge our travellers had just entered, runs back for hundreds of miles, and is as yet literally unexplored by civilized people. There is a house name Koesson’s somewhere on it, where a German by that name, with four other families, settled fifty years ago. They never appear in the settlement, live upon game and a few pigs, dress in skins, and according to Jerry, have all property in common. “They took nyther law nor decency nor God in thar with them,” said the shrewed hunter, “an I reckon they haven’t found any to speak of since.” An energetic explorer of this range of mountains, from Pittsburg succeeded in the summer of 1878 in taking a boat and launching it to then Blackwater. It was the first that had ever insulted that untamed little savage of a stream. He proposes to venture in it this summer up into the heart of Ca-na’an, and to unearth this barbarous tribe.”
It seemed familiar as Moses copied the entire paragraph in his own story. He wrote,” The wilderness runs back from the river hundreds of miles and is, as yet, literally unexplored by civilized people, according to the word of our landlord Davis. There is a house named Koesson’s somewhere in the wilderness, where a German of the name, together with four other families, settled fifty years ago. They never appeared in the settlement, lived upon game and a few pigs, dressed in skins and had all property in common. “They took nyther law, decency nor God in that wilderness,” said the landlord, and I reckon they haven’t found any to speak of since. An energetic explorer of this range of mountains, from Pittsburg, succeeded, in the summer of 1878, in taking a boat and launching it in Blackwater. It was the first one that had ever insulted that untamed little savage of a stream. He proposes to finish his work by venturing into the heart of Canaan, as the natives call the wilderness, and unearth this barbarous tribe.”
There were more similarities between Rebecca Davis’ 1880 article and the article written by Thomas G. Moses over thirty years later. Did he need inspiration, or was he trying to pad out his own story for the press?
Then I thought of Jimmy Buffet’s line from the song “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes:’
“Good times and riches and son of a bitches, I’ve seen more than I can recall.”
Maybe the explanation was that simple.
To be continued…
