IhK
‘к- Ы
Pi4*h from A. he. ilk
entranced Chink's I. unman in
1Н4И,
as
il (Iocs .isilors to this day. The view b
(ют
ihc campus
«I
Asheville school.
Roadside Thrashing
Tar Heel bully, meeln bis ma«eli Iv a
reluctant Tennesseean.
B, i CHARLES LAMMA*
Asheville, N. C.
May, 1848
The distance from Ouulln Town
lo this place is sixty miles. The first
half of Ihc route is exceedingly moun¬
tainous and almost entirely uncul-
livaied. bul the valley of Pigeon river,
down which you have lo trawl for
a considerable distance, is scry fertile
and well cultivated. A pastoral charm
seems lo rest upon the scenery, and
in Ihis particular forcibly reminded
me of the upper valley of the Mohawk.
I occupied the most of two duys in
performing this trip, and the only inci¬
dent that I met with which was at all
unique, was upon this wise I had slop¬
ped at a farm-house to take my din¬
ner. It so happened that my host «as
about to erect a new barn, and some
twenty of his neighbors «ere assem¬
bled for (he purpose of raising ihe
frame «or l to its proper position. An
abundance of whiskey had already
been imbibed by a few of this rustic
company, and among these was one
individual who had recently been
grossly cheated in purchasing a horse
from a Tennessee horse-dealer. He
had given a mule and twenty dollars
for the stranger s gckhng. and. though
the animal was quite respectable in
appearance, it had turned
«нм
to he
old, unsound, and almost without a
redeeming quality. Ihe individual in
question was noted lor making a fool
of himself when intoxicated, and on
this occasion he was determined to
prove true to himself. At this time his
horse speculation seemed to weigh
heavily upon his mind, and in his
vehement remarks he look particular
pains to curve the entire Slate of Ten¬
nessee. including President Polk The
poor man finally became so complete¬
ly excited that he swore he would whip
the first man he met on the road who
happened to lie front Tennessee; and
so the matter rested In about thirty
minutes thereafter, as fortune would
have it, a man made his appearance
on the road, apparently from the
West; and in jeering their noisy com¬
panion. the farmers remarked that
"now he would have a chance to re¬
venge himself." The excitement of the
horse-bitten speculator was conse¬
quently greatly increased, and when
the stranger reached the hilltop he
was accosted as follows:
"May I ask you. sir, if you come
from Tennessee?”
"I do. What will you have?" replied
the stranger.
The Carolinian then related his
trading
Могу,
which he concluded by
carefully reiterating the determination
he had made. The stranger laughed
at the idea, and was about to resume
his journey. when the reins of hi*
horse were seized, ami he found that
it wus indeed necessary for him to
fight his way out of the queer scrape.
All remonstrance on his pan was
in vain; but at the very moment the
tight wus to commence, another horse¬
man rode up, who was also interrogat¬
ed IIS to his native State His presence
hud a tendency to suspend hostilities;
but when it wa* ascertained that he
was on/, a Kentuckian, the Carolinian
insisted upon going on with his busi¬
ness. The feelings of the Kentuckian
were now enlisted, and he declared hi*
intention of regulating the fight; where¬
upon he made a large ting, and taking
out of his pocket a couple of pistol*,
he lohl the combatants "to go ahead."
and al the same time warned the by¬
standers that he would shoot the fitst
man that interfered.
Пю
conclusion
of the whole matter was, that the in¬
toxicated man received a cruel thrash¬
ing for his ridiculous conduct, and the
two gentlemen from the West quietly
resumed their several journeys.
On mv way to this place, I stopped
for II few hours at Heaven’s Sulphur
Sprint*, which arc about lour mile*
from the French Broad mer. on the
road to Clarksville, (korgb. This it
one of the most popular watering-
places in the South, not only on ac¬
count of the medicinal qualities of the
water, but on account of the surrnund-
( Con tinned on pare 26)
In ihe nett 'Letter I ram the Al¬
leghany Mountains." the 1848 traveler
describes his first top to Hickory Nut
Gorge.
17
THE STATE. Ko»u*"- 26. \9b%
