Blog
Reading Time: 4 minutesLife on the early frontier often hinged on one thing: salt. It preserved food, kept animals and humans healthy, and was used as trade currency. Great battles were fought over it. Men died mining it. The salt trade on the Holston River wasn’t just a business; frontier economies rose and fell with the availability of salt. Before railroads cut through […]
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn the last days of the Civil War, as Richmond burned and the Confederacy fell apart, a desperate group rolled out of town. They carried something more valuable than weapons—they carried their stash of Confederate gold. This fortune, meant to keep the Confederacy alive, made its way south to Danville, Virginia. And then? It vanished. For over a century, treasure […]
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Abduction On the Western Frontier of Virginia in 1776, life was a delicate balance between survival and danger. Boonesborough, in Kentucky County, VA, had been settled just a year earlier. A tenuous treaty between a handful of tribal leaders and the British government allowed the settlement. But many native warriors didn’t give a hoot about the White Man’s politics—they […]
Reading Time: 4 minutesDriving north on Interstate 77 near Wytheville, VA, just before where the highway crosses the New River, stands a tower made from field stone: The Jackson Ferry Shot Tower. For more than 30 years, until 1839, the Tower manufactured lead shot. It played a key role in transforming raw lead into musket shot, moving it through a carefully designed production […]
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn the quiet town of Helvetia, West Virginia, the final days before Lent don’t pass unnoticed. They are celebrated with Helvetia Fasnacht, bringing a parade of masked revelers and the steady thumping of old-world music to the town’s streets and parks. Picture it: masked figures dancing through the streets, firepits crackling, and the spirit of a Swiss tradition burning bright. […]
Reading Time: 4 minutesAnother Valentine’s Day looms ahead. Some young ladies will be expecting gifts; some young men will hustle at the last minute to grab flowers or candy or secure a coveted dinner reservation. Others, perhaps, will be carefully crafting the perfect message for an online dating profile or swiping through apps, searching for a spark of connection. Though the settings and […]
Reading Time: 3 minutesDriving up Groundhog Mountain from Mt. Airy, NC, to Meadows of Dan, VA, I pulled over on Squirrel Spur Road to pause and admire the view. Near the top of a close rise, I spotted a dark hole among the trees: a cave. Wild caves—that is, commercially undeveloped ones—are everywhere in the Blue Ridge. I made a mental note to […]
Reading Time: 5 minutesIn August 1974, Jill and I took off on a three-month, 1,500-mile hike and ramble. Our apartment lease was up, we had no local commitments, and we wanted to go adventuring. The previous January, we had signed up for a week-long yoga retreat at the University in Orno, Maine. We looked forward to a week of yoga, meditation, vegetarian meals, […]
