By the time Thomas Searight wrote his account of the Old Pike, in 1894, the thick forest comprising the Shades of Death had been timbered off.
"...At an early day Joshua Johnson, a wealthy man of Frederick City, owned fifteen thousand acres of land, embracing Piney Grove and the Shades of Death, which he held for many years for speculative purposes. Portions of this large area, it is said, continue in the possession of Johnson's descendants to this day. The pine trees were cut down many years ago, sawed up and shipped to market."
(¹ Bald cypress are unusual in Maryland and, in most occurences, are found in southern coastal areas of the State. That said, they do in rare instances, still exist in other parts of the state. In Brown's time, before the drainage of land for farming, they may have been more prevalent in Western Maryland. (Thanks to Alan Cameron of Aberdeen, SCOTLAND, UK, for the correction.)
Depending on the source, the location of the Shades of Death varies...:
From Hulbert's book Braddock's Road and Three Relative Papers, 1903:
- Quoting the research of TC Atkinson of Cumberland, MD. (Atkinson was a surveyor for the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad and had spent years researching Gen. Braddock's route to Fort Duquesne.":
"Passing then a mile to the south of Frostburg, the (Braddock's) road approaches the east foot of Savage Mountain, which it crosses about one mile south of the National Road, and thence by very favorable ground through the dense forests of white pine peculiar to this region, it got to the north of the National Road, near the gloomy tract called the Shades of Death. This was the 15th of June, when the dense gloom of the summer woods and the favorable shelter which those enormous pines would give an Indian enemy, must have made a most sensible impression on all minds, of the insecurity of their mode of advance."(p. 184)
- Hulbert then quotes a common version of William Brown's 1790 itinerary from Hanover, VA to Wheeling, VA/WV (p. 195):
To Gwyn's Tav., at the Fork of Braddock's old road, Alleghany Co., Maryland, 3 (mi)
To Clark's Store, 6
To Little Shades of Death, 12
To Tumblestone Tav., or the Little Meadows, 3
To Big Shades of Death, 2
To Mountain Tav., or White Oak Springs, 2
|
Working with itinerary above, I could never resolve the distance from Clark's Store (Frostburg) to the Little Shades of Death (Two-Mile Run) of 12 miles. It just didn't make sense, even when allowing for the fact Braddock's Road runs to the south of the Cumberland Road... Until I read Brown's original itinerary:
Credit: Filson Historical Society
The original document fairly plainly notes that Clark's Store (Frostburg area) was 4 miles from Gwyn's Tavern and the Tumblestone Tavern (Tomlinson's) was 12 miles from Clark's. The "Little Shades of Death" and "Big Shades of Death" notations look like an afterthought.
Mountain(s) Tavern, four miles distant from Tumblestone (Tomlinson's), would be in the general area of the Fuller-Baker Log House on Little Shade Run and Thistle's Tavern described by Searight [2]:
"As early as 1836, Thomas Thistle kept a tavern at the foot of Negro Mountain, two miles west of Grantsville. With a name somewhat rasping in its import, Thistle had a smooth tongue, a mild manner, and furnished excellent entertainment for the traveling public. He was one of the oldest and best known tavern keepers on the road. His house was a long, frame wooden building, on the south side of the road, at times a stage station, and throughout its entire existence a wagon stand. Here the National Road crosses the line of the old Braddock road."
While early observations of the location of the Shades of Death are few, there are numerous later references to the location:
- From the Commissioners report (1808) on the suggested route of the new Road:
(Elevation of) Summit of Red Hill (after called Shades of Death) 1914.3 ft. (Searight, p. 38, 1894)
- "Three miles further westward, and at the eastern approach to the Shades of Death, John Reeknor kept an old wagon stand, well known,
and in its day well patronized, Reeknor kept this house as early as 1830, and ended his days in it. It was a log and frame structure on
the north side of the road, with a commodious wagon yard attached. The thick branches of the pine trees growing on Shade Hill, hung
over this old house, imparting to it a romantic, as well as an attractive perspective."
And...
"Piney Grove comes next, two miles from Recknors, so called from the numerous pine trees growing in the locality in the olden time. At an early day Joshua Johnson, a wealthy man of Frederick City, owned fifteen thousand acres of land, embracing Piney Grove and the Shades of Death, which he held for many years for speculative purposes. Portions of this large area, it is said, continue in the possession of Johnson's descendants to this day. The pine trees were cut down many years ago, sawed up and shipped to market. William Frost, of Frostburg, erected the first extensive saw mill in the vicinity." (Searight, p. 207, 1894)
- "Less than a quarter mile west was the "wagon stand" kept as early as 1830 by John Recknor, beyond which begins the long descent- about 260
feet in a mile— to Two-Mile Run, a small stream crossed by a short stone culvert. The long "hollow" on either side of this was once commonly known as the "Shades of Death," from the dense forests of white pine which formerly covered the region, making a favorable shelter for hostile Indians and shutting out nearly all of the sunlight even on a bright summer day. Old wagoners who drove from Baltimore to the Ohio River or beyond dreaded this locality as the darkest and gloomiest place along the route; and it was the scene of one or more "hold-ups."
But the once-splendid white pine forests in this part of Garrett County were cut down, sawed up and shipped to market long ago; so the "Shades of Death" became no more, though it is only a few years since the last mill made into shingles what was left of the pine. Many of the larger stumps are still in the ground, and others were built into the stump fences so characteristic of a once heavily-wooded country; most of these fences have begun to decay from their exposure of a generation or more to the elements. About one mile west the road makes a dip to the small stream known as Red Run, and immediately thereafter ascends the eastern slope of Meadow Mountain. In this valley is the small hamlet of Piney Grove, also named from the pine trees once covering this entire section."
And from a photo caption:
DESCENT TO TWO-MILE RUN, THE SECOND NORTHWARD FLOWING STREAM BETWEEN BIG SAVAGE MOUNTAIN AND MEADOW MOUNTAIN; A LESSER RANGE, RED RIDGE, SEEN IN THE DISTANCE
The hollow which the automobile is approaching was called the "Shades of Death" by the old stage coach and freight wagon drivers on account of the heavy pine forests almost darkening the road. (Bruce, p. 51 & 52, 1916)
- From John Kennedy Lacock article on Braddock's Road, beginning at the point where Braddock's army has ascended Big Savage Mountain, west of Frostburg, MD and is descending the western side of the mountain:
"From this hill the road runs by very favorable ground in a nearly straight line to the corner of a wood, and then on through the woods to a township road, which it crosses at a point about a quarter of a mile from the National turnpike. Proceeding in the same straight line westward less than quarter of a mile, it reaches and crosses the turnpike to the north. It was at or near this intersection that the first brigade probably
encamped on June 15." From this point to some woods less than a quarter of a mile westward there is no trace of the road, but through these woods there is a well-marked scar for over half a mile to Two Mile Run. Near this stream are the renowned "Shades of Death," once a deep forest the tops of whose towering trees intertwined."
"From the 'Shades of Death' the road passes up Red Ridge, crossing another road a few rods to the north of a house now occupied by Henry Meerbach; thence it runs to Wolf Swamp and Red Run, and on to the foot of Meadow Mountain."
Footnote: Dense forests of white pine formerly covered this region, which, from the deep gloom of the summer woods and the favorable shelter
that the pines gave to the Indian enemy, came to be spoken of as the "Shades of Death." The writer's party was told that the old wagoners who used to drive from Baltimore to Zanesvllle dreaded this locality as the darkest and gloomiest place along the entire Vol. XXXVIII.— 2
(Penn. Magazine, p. 17, 1914)
The general consensus seems to place the Shades of Death in the area of Two-Mile Run and Piney Grove. William Brown appears to be the odd man out with his notation of both a Big and Little Shades. His description gains some creditability as, (1) it is an early observation (1790) and (2) the presence of two creeks named Big & Little Shade Runs at the foot of Negro Mountain.
Link to Google Map showing the general area.
SHADE MILL
William Frost, son of Meshach Frost, and Nelson Beall operated a sawmill at Two-Mile Run/The Shades of Death/Shades Mill (Leo Beachy, "A Region of Vanishing Pines", The Frost mill is also mentioned in Brown's Miscellaneous Writings.).
While there is much evidence of a town or settlement known as Shade Mill in the area where Two-Mile Run cross the Road, I can find no evidence marking the location today.
If anyone can supply additional information, it will be greatly appreciated.
~ Steve Colby, 11/09/09, (Updated: 01/21/2010)
(I would like to thank John Slaitrik for his contributon to this article.)
Steam Saw Mill
Garrett County
(Library of Congress)
|
Cut-over field
Garrett County
(Library of Congress)
|
|
