Life in the mountains in the 1800's was unlike the lives we know today. There was an ebb and a flow of activity because of the effect of the seasons on the harsh topography. Spring brought a swarming of activity much like the movement of bees around a hive in a field of freshly blooming clover. Summer was a time of more constant steady activity. Autumn saw a melancholy slowing with the anticipation of winter snow. Winter was a time of little activity except that required to survive the harsh winter snow and wind.
It was not uncommon for people to be housebound or cabin bound in the mountain country. There was no media to entertain the mind. Boredom and isolation sometimes caused a condition called cabin fever wherin people lost contact with reality and retreated into an inner world.
Travel and hospitality in the mountains was also different than we know today. Today, one would never think of entering into a house uninvited. That was not the case with mountain hospitality of years past. As one traveled through the mountains and needed shelter for the night, it was permissable to use a cabin that was temporarily empty.
There was such a mountain traveller that came upon a deserted cabin in Massey Canon. As he came upon the empty cabin, he tethered his horse and unsaddled it. He took his saddle and bed roll into the cabin. He lit a lantern and built a fire in the wood stove and cooked himself a meal. The ride had been hard and he needed rest. He laid back on the bunk and looked up into the rafters of the cabin.
There he saw a hideous site. It appeared to be a naked woman, soiled and with matted red hair and burlap wrapped on her feet.
Carefully, the traveler grabbed the saddle and backed out of the cabin. He mounted his horse and never returned to the cabin again.
4 comments:
This is oine of those stories that I don't know if it is truth or Blarney. Dad told me that the old woman had gone crazy after losing her husband and some of her children. He said that they had gone up into the mountains to find her and had difficulty catching her even on horseback.
Was he pulling my leg?
That'll make a person check to see if anyone's home before making luxury of another's home, even in a one room cabin!
it would be interesting to know exactly the names of the characters involved in this tale! It reminded me of another story which my Dad told me that happened to him once when he was riding his horse from Antonito to Romeo. That one use to scare us!
How much of what we hear is fabricated or exaggerated beyond the truth is amazing. Just play the game of telephone sometime.
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