Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
In 1740 the mountain was called Peaked Mountain, and later it was known as Buffalo Mountain. The name Massanutten was then confined to the large open space between the mountain and the river below Thornton Gap.
In 1746 the colony was petitioned to build a road "from Smith's Creek over the Buffalo Mountain to the mouth of Massanutten and thence over the Blue Ridge to Mr. Thornton's Mill." This was known as Massanutten Road and is the present route of the Lee Highway.
The Massanutten field and Fort Valley were held by the Indians as common hunting grounds. While no permanent towns were located there, many Indian relics have been found on several temporary village sites. Opposite Mill Creek, in Fort Valley, and above Luray, Indian mounds, some thirty feet high, have been opened.
The first settler on the Massanutten field was Adam Miller, who located there in 1726. A few years later Adam Strickler and other German families from Pennsylvania came in, and by 1732 there were fifty-one people on that tract. Meanwhile, one Powell, who is reputed to have had trouble with the authorities, took refuge in the gem of a valley lying in the northern end of the mountain, later known as "The Fort." This is not an artificial stronghold, but was a natural one for Powell, and here he lived in peace. For him the mountain to the west was called Powell's Fort mountain and the valley Powell's Fort valley, and later "The Fort." Now they are known as Powell's Mountain and Fort Valley. Powell is supposed to have found again the silver mines mentioned by Baron De Graffenreid as having been discovered by Michelle in 1707, and to have made counterfeit money, which did not endear him to the authorities.
According to popular report, he buried a quantity of gold and silver on Signal Knob overlooking Strasburg, and while several generations of treasure seekers have hunted for it, it has never been found. But every native still claims "Thar's gold in them thar hills," or at least silver! About 1733 a group of hunters, Tebo, Klizer, and Crick, settled in The Fort. Within a short time others followed. Soon it was too thickly settled for Tebo and his friends, so they sold out to John Bushong and Henry Cullers who had recently arrived in the Shenandoah from Maryland, and followed the game further west.
more at.....http://www.patc.net/history/archive/massntn.html
In 1746 the colony was petitioned to build a road "from Smith's Creek over the Buffalo Mountain to the mouth of Massanutten and thence over the Blue Ridge to Mr. Thornton's Mill." This was known as Massanutten Road and is the present route of the Lee Highway.
The Massanutten field and Fort Valley were held by the Indians as common hunting grounds. While no permanent towns were located there, many Indian relics have been found on several temporary village sites. Opposite Mill Creek, in Fort Valley, and above Luray, Indian mounds, some thirty feet high, have been opened.
The first settler on the Massanutten field was Adam Miller, who located there in 1726. A few years later Adam Strickler and other German families from Pennsylvania came in, and by 1732 there were fifty-one people on that tract. Meanwhile, one Powell, who is reputed to have had trouble with the authorities, took refuge in the gem of a valley lying in the northern end of the mountain, later known as "The Fort." This is not an artificial stronghold, but was a natural one for Powell, and here he lived in peace. For him the mountain to the west was called Powell's Fort mountain and the valley Powell's Fort valley, and later "The Fort." Now they are known as Powell's Mountain and Fort Valley. Powell is supposed to have found again the silver mines mentioned by Baron De Graffenreid as having been discovered by Michelle in 1707, and to have made counterfeit money, which did not endear him to the authorities.
According to popular report, he buried a quantity of gold and silver on Signal Knob overlooking Strasburg, and while several generations of treasure seekers have hunted for it, it has never been found. But every native still claims "Thar's gold in them thar hills," or at least silver! About 1733 a group of hunters, Tebo, Klizer, and Crick, settled in The Fort. Within a short time others followed. Soon it was too thickly settled for Tebo and his friends, so they sold out to John Bushong and Henry Cullers who had recently arrived in the Shenandoah from Maryland, and followed the game further west.
more at.....http://www.patc.net/history/archive/massntn.html
8) (sunny out...). THANKS, Gypsyheart... GREAT "post" & "link"; born & raised in the Shenandaoh Valley of Virginia, I have been to ALL the places mentioned; one thing NOT mentioned is there is a legend of a treasure buried at the base of Massanutten Mountain off of Rt. 33 (AKA Lee Highway...), near Keezletown, Va. near Melrose Cavern or Massenuten Cavern; LOTS of caves/caverns in the Great Valley of Virginia and... civil war battlefields... buried families/caches... etc. etc. Now, I am "homesick"!!! (live in Lynchburg, Va. now... 
; I was just a kid, then, kept MOST of it, lost some of it. The Shenandoah Valley is FULL of history & RELICS... MAY have to "retire" back up there. dunno 
8) HA! SUNNY out! Gonna HAVE to go back to the GREAT VALLEY in April... The A. Miller House on "The Field" is about 1/3 mile NORTH of Elkton, Va. "limits", on the WEST side of Rt. 33 NORTH.
