“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”…with a Nature’s Mountain Playground Twist
Michael Moore
There’s a change taking place, have you noticed? You can feel it in the air. The evenings, once warm and humid, are now cool and crisp. Mornings are thick with fog and the dense greens, that not long ago blanketed our mountains, have transformed into a patchwork quilt of red, yellow, orange, and gold. You guessed it – fall has arrived in Pocahontas County!
Fall is that wonderful time of year bringing visitors and locals alike together for fall festivals, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, leaf peeping, and good old-fashioned, fall scenic drives. Whether you choose to mark the coming season by attending a crowd-packed fall festival in town or getting out on a lonely, backroad for a leaf-peeping road trip, the one thing that will not escape your attention is the vibrant burst of color all around. As I write this, I’m looking out my office window at a brilliant blue, cloudless day with bright sunshine marvelously illuminating every gold, orange, and red leaf it hits. It’s honestly like something straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
But there comes, as it must, that inescapable moment when the blue bird day will slowly slip away. The sun will begin to set, and shadows will grow. Wispy strands of fog will slither into hidden hollows and collect in the mountain’s deep valleys. The moon will take its rightful place in the midnight sky, and it will be time for ghost stories. It’s been this way for centuries. With the festivities of fall, also come the frights of Halloween; with only the setting and rising of the sun to separate the two. Pumpkin patches and corn mazes that, by midday’s warm sunlight, act as playgrounds for children and adults alike, by the dim light of the Autumn moon, transform into dark lairs and twisted corridors for ghosts and unwelcome spirits. Sun-drenched country roads, bathed in the brilliant colors of fall, after the setting of the sun, become unfamiliar pathways through deep, dark forests containing who knows what. Did something just run across the road?
Now when it comes to a classic ghost story, set in the autumn of the year, complete with moon-lit backroads and fog-filled hollows, it’s pretty hard to beat The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A short story penned in 1820 by American author Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the fictional tale of Connecticut schoolmaster Ichabod Crane in the 1790 Dutch settlement of Tarry Town and his attempt to win the love of a wealthy farmer’s daughter. As the story unfolds, Ichabod learns of the local legend of the Headless Horseman, the supposed ghost of a Hessian solider decapitated by cannonball fire during the Revolutionary War. On the off chance you’re unfamiliar with this Halloween classic, I’ll say nothing more and allow you to discover how the story ends.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a beloved work of fiction, but that being said, it is still a fictional tale – a story created in the mind of an author and written down for others to enjoy. But what if there existed a similar tale that many believe to be true? What if there were records with comparable facts and accounts to Irving’s story that have survived over the years and, according to some, still persist to this day? Has the cold chill run up your back yet? Well as it happens, there is a very similar legend that has its origin, not in Washington Irving’s Tarry Town of 1790, but right here in Pocahontas County. And for those of you who enjoy a hearty dose of fright with your fall fun, I thought this to be the perfect time to share the tale. So, pick a seat close to the fire and settle in, while we take a look at the Pocahontas County version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Our story has its beginning during the tragic period of the American Civil War, on the battlefield of what is known today as Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park. The battle of Droop Mountain took place on November 6, 1863, and was a brutal, day-long onslaught of mostly hand-to-hand combat resulting in the death of at least 78 men. And at least one of those deaths was particularly disturbing. It seems at some point during the fighting, a Union horse soldier advanced on a Confederate foot solider, seized him by the hair, drew his sword, and proceeded to decapitate the Confederate soldier. Supposedly the severed head was tossed into a nearby pond, with reports stating it was never recovered and the headless body was ordered to be buried along the side of a nearby road. Such are the horrors of war.
Sometime after the burial, stories began to spread that horses traveling the old road and passing by the grave after sunset, were suddenly stopped and held in place until dawn by the apparition of a headless man. The odd accounts persisted until one night when a driver of a double team of horses found himself inexplicably stopped beside the roadside grave. Pressing the horses to continue on had no effect, they simply refused to move. Looking out into the night towards the lead horses, the driver saw the ghostly figure of a headless man holding the horses by the bridle bit. It has been reported that the driver tried reasoning with the specter, (imagine having the presence of mind to initiate that conversation) only to fail in persuading the release of his horses. Frustrated, the driver lost his temper and stepped out onto the wagon tongue and proceeded to lash out at the ghost with his whip. At this the horses bolted, throwing the driver back and leaving him clutching to one of the horses’ necks for dear life as they sped past the grave. Apparently, this horsewhipping had a lasting effect as any further tales of ghostly, graveside horse delays were never heard of again.
Although the horse shenanigans came to an end, there has been at least one other noted encounter with the ethereal resident of Droop Mountain. In 1920, a Mr. Edgar Walton, along with a second unnamed gentleman, were traveling over Droop Mountain when they decided to stop for the night and make camp. Unfortunately for them, the camp site they chose was very near the battlefield for which the state park would eventually be named. With darkness closing in on the men, Mr. Walton began collecting firewood for the night. Once the wood was gathered and a spot cleared for the fire (one report states this was done near the graves of a small Confederate cemetery), Walton set to the task of making a fire. It was the rustling of leaves that caused Walton to stop what he was doing, stand up, and look towards the approaching sound. One could only imagine what Edgar Walton thought as he watched the form of a headless, ghostly figure floating past. Whether the two men remained at their campsite or decided moving on would be the prudent thing to do, I cannot say. To this day, there still remain occasional reports of faint screams, sounds of battle, and the random glimpse of misty figures among the trees and fields of Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park.
So, the headless Confederate Solider of Droop Mountain, fact or fiction? I’ll let you decide whether or not Pocahontas County has its very own version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. And if you need a little help in making that decision, you could always pay us a visit here at Nature’s Mountain Playground and check out Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park for yourself. Or, if the thought of a late night, ghostly encounter isn’t your idea of an ideal fall getaway, come visit us for a little more of the light-hearted fun of fall. The leaves have turned and are beginning to drop, making the colors of the forest floor as bright and beautiful as what’s remaining on the branches and a perfect time for a fall hike. In our towns, pumpkins seem to be everywhere, and the Halloween decorations add a spark of fun as well as a hint of mayhem to the local scenery. Add in our fall drives, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for an ideal autumn getaway. But perhaps a word of warning is due. If you find yourself travelling a lonely back road, taking in the surrounding fall beauty, and notice, perhaps a little too late, the setting sun, and your car suddenly begins to act as if something or someone is trying to keep you there…well, on second thought, what’s the chance of that happening?
Happy Halloween from Nature’s Mountain Playground.