Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition

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The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition took place in 1716 in the British Colony of Virginia. It is a frequently recounted event of the History of Virginia.

Contents

[edit] The Expedition

Alexander Spotswood became acting royal governor of Virginia in 1710, by which time pressure on the colony to expand had become more acute than ever. In 1716, Governor Spotswood, with 62 other men and 74 horses, led a real estate speculation expedition up the Rappahannock River valley during westward exploration of the interior of Virginia. They reached the base of the mountains west of today's Stanardsville on the eighth day. The men were impressed with the fact that they were surrounded on all sides by steep mountain terrain as their axemen cleared a way along the path of a creek named Swift Run along the eastern slope.

The party reached a rock-covered place between several peaks along the top ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Swift Run Gap (elevation 2,365 feet) on September 5, 1716. There, they drank the special toasts to the king and to Governor Spotswood, and named a peak for each. [1] The taller summit was named "Mount George" in honour of King George II; this was probably today's High Top Mountain.

Upon descending into a portion of the Shenandoah Valley on the east side of Massanutten Mountain, they reached a point near the current town of Elkton, where they celebrated their arrival on the banks of the Shenandoah River with more multiple toasts of wine, brandy, and claret. [2] On the banks of the river they buried a bottle, inside which they had put a paper declaring that the whole valley belonged to George I, King by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, Ireland and Virginia.

After the journey, Spotswood was believed to have given each officer of the expedition a pin made of gold and shaped like a horseshoe on which he had inscribed the words in Latin "Sic jurat transcendere montes", which translates in English to "Thus he swears to cross the mountains." The members of Governor Spotswood's expedition soon became popularly known as the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe." The journalist of this expedition was an officer, Lieutenant John Fontaine, of the British Army.

[edit] Heritage

At a practical level, word of the expedition, and descriptions of the fertile valley land beyond the mountain range, apparently didn't do much in the short-term to open the Shenandoah Valley for development from the east. The mountain range was a formidable barrier. Instead, most of the early settlers came up the Valley from the north, many of German and Scottish decent. Groups of Mennonites migrated from Pennsylvania, and settled in the general area of present-day Rockingham County and Harrisonburg, where their descendants may still be found today.

Spotswood's expedition, which from all reports, traveled at a leisurely pace, encountered little or no loss of life or conflict with Native Americans, and included frequent stops for celebrations and libations, earned a somewhat legendary status. This was especially true after The Knights of the Golden Horse-Shoe, an early historical romance, was authored by William Alexander Caruthers and first published in 1845. (Caruthers is considered the first important Virginia novelist, and Knights is considered the best of his books.

A historical plaque and pyramid-shaped stone at Swift Run Gap (at the south side of U.S. Highway 33 near the Skyline Drive overpass) mark their historic crossing of 1716. [3] The Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail both pass nearby as well. Also at this location, a Virginia Historical Highway Marker, # D10 Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, is located. It reads:

"On 5 Sept. 1716, in this region, it is believed Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood and his party of government officials, gentry, Native Americans, soldiers, and servants crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley. Their adventure into Virginia's western lands began at Germanna late in Aug. and ended when they returned there on 10 Sept. According to legend, Spotswood gave his companions small golden horseshoes on their return and the group became known as the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. The journey has been fictionalized and mythologized in literature since the 19th century."

[edit] Trivia

In West Virginia, there is a competition named after the Golden Horseshoe(s). All 8th grade students take a test to show their knowledge of West Virginia's history. The top scorers go to their county level, where they take another test. After that, the students with the highest scores are "knighted" and receive a golden horseshoe.

[edit] Sources

[edit] Books

  • Marshall, Henrietta Elizabeth (1917) This country of ours; the story of the United States New York, George H. Doran Company

[edit] Internet

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