During the recent celebration of Graham County’s 150th birthday, Mike Ingram mentioned some writing on a rock during one of the history sessions. This seemed to arouse the interest of those present.
Mike was referring to some strange writing on a rock atop Hooper Bald.
I first saw the writing while on a huckleberry picking trip with Gudger Buchanan in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s. As far back as he could remember the older generations spoke of seeing the writing.
This message had been chiseled into the stone:
Predarms Casada
Sep. 1615
In 1988, I sent a photograph of the writing to Jeff Chapman of the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Chapman said that the wording is probably of Spanish origin and that the person was claiming Hooper Bald as their own, were staking a claim and would defend it by arms if necessary.
Chapman says that the date 1615 does not correspond with when Desoto was supposed to have been in this area, but that some of his soldiers may have deserted his army and struck out on their own in search of gold.
Since that time, another claim has been made that the message implies something about marriage.
I suppose either case could result in hostilities eventually.
Another message has been found in stone in Graham County – not by humans, but by some species of animal.
In 2008, Dale Holder took Ronnie Postell, Hoot Gibbs and I to see some strange animal tracks left in solid stone along a ridge between Wachacha Bald and Mountain Creek Gap. Dale had been taken there by his father Theodore Holder when Dale was around age 10.
Embedded in solid rock are numerous tracks that appear to have been made by some hoofed animal. Some of the tracks are several inches across, with other smaller tracks made by younger animals. Some of the tracks have slide marks – as if the animal was fleeing from something in pursuit of them. Also embedded in rock is the track of some large animal with a large padded foot. Dale said when his father took him to the tracks that there was also on the rock a large track of a padded foot with three toes having large claws.
On a later trip, we took a so-called expert from an agency I won’t name to see the tracks.
The tracks were dismissed as to having been caused by water and I think we were dismissed as ignorant rednecks.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.