30 Years Ago
Week of August 5, 1993
Doe Hill Cowboy
Gives Clinic
On Horse-Breaking
By Joan Ashley
“A horse doesn’t have a problem. Problems start with the teacher,” said Appaloosa horse breeder, Mike Armstrong, to 40 riders seated around a 60-foot round pen for a horse-breaking clinic at his Rocking A Ranch.
During the day-long clinic Armstrong taught how to handle the “green-broke horses” by halter training and “breaking to saddle” a three-year-old colt owned by Jim Sponaugle of Doe Hill, Virginia. At the end of the day he rode the colt around the training round ring.
The horse had not been handled. It did not know how to lead and did not allow people to come up to it. By allowing the horse to do what it wanted, which was to run around the round ring, Armstrong gradually worked with the horse until it came into the center of the ring and allowed Armstrong to touch it, lead it and finally ride it.
The training session was not abusive—the horse decided on its own to come to Armstrong and accepted each step until the rider mounted. He was not roped, snubbed to a post or tied down as some one-day breakers recommend.
Armstrong is a local horse trainer and farrier with customers throughout Pendleton County. He has trained horses since he was 13 on his father’s farm in Doe Hill. He later went to Montana where he gained more experience breaking horses to work cattle. He has trained and ridden several world and national champion halter and performance horses.
He first learned the “round pen” method in Montana at a Ray Hunt clinic. “I was amazed at the method that could take a wild horse and in a short period of time break and ride it anywhere without abusing the animal. “The secret is the round pen,” said Armstrong.
“This is school! Problems start if you get a horse in ninth or tenth grade, and he hasn’t passed third grade. Then you have to start back in first grade to see what he knows. It’s not the horse’s fault. He gets scared and mad. Then there is a battle with his rider,” Armstrong said.
“A horse is a lot like driving a pickup truck. You need to know what speed you can make a turn without sliding. It depends on what kind of driver you are.”
“If a horse has got a problem, you’ve got to go back to school wherever you train,” Armstrong said. “You have to fix it or it will get worse.”
Sponaugle owns Hollow Hill Farm where he uses horses to work 140 brood cows on 700 acres. “Mike is good at this. He broke other horses for us, and they handle real well—we don’t have to worry about them. We have four bulls and we’re moving cows around all the time. We couldn’t do it without our horses. “A good horse is one who will work good and also ride comfortable,” Sponaugle said.
Keeping Deer
Out of the Garden
Is a Daunting Task
Fencing is the most effective way to keep deer out of your vegetable garden or fruit orchard, according to the West Virginia University Extension Service.
Because fencing is expensive, however, many growers use repellents instead, although repellents also can be costly.
For low-growing crops, fencing substitutes such as plastic netting may be viable, especially where deer pressure is high and repellents aren’t doing the job.
Repellents work by changing deer feeding behavior. This is best accomplished before a feeding pattern has been established. That means you need to apply the repellents even before you observe any deer damage. The effectiveness of repellents depends on the animals’ appetites, weather conditions, and the extent and frequency of application.
50 Years Ago
Week of August 2, 1973
26 Rehabilitated Here, Last Year
Twenty-six clients were successfully rehabilitated in Pendleton County during the past fiscal year, July 1, 1972, to June 30, 1973, according to Robert Burke of the local rehabilitation office. This more than doubles the 1972 closures.
Of those rehabilitated, 20 received medical services, four received some type of prosthetic appliances (braces, dentures, glasses, limbs), and two received vocational training (one college and one trade school).
The Pendleton County Rehabilitation Office hopes to provide even more services to the disabled this year.
60 Years Ago
Week of August 8, 1963
Brandywine Motel
And Restaurant
Is Top Tourist Stop
Brandywine Motel & Restaurant, Brandywine, West Virginia, has just received word of its nomination as one of the outstanding tourist stops in this part of the country. The selection honoring the business organization has been made by the internationally famous Travelmat organization with headquarters at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
A place to be selected should be on a highway, preferably at the edge of town, have a parking lot, good food, be modern and clean and give the traveler outstanding value and service.
Judge Calhoun
Explains Origin of Name ‘Smoke Hole’
Scenic Marker Omits
Historic Background
Judge Harlan M. Calhoun of Charleston, a member of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and longtime booster of the famous Smoke Hole area in Pendleton County, has issued an authoritative statement on the origin of the name Smoke Hole.
In a letter addressed to The Pendleton Times, Judge Calhoun explains how the Smoke Hole got its name and laments the fact that this bit of local history was not included on the scenic marker recently erected at the entrance to the Smoke Hole canyon.
Judge Calhoun’s letter follows:
Editor, the Times:
I was delighted to read in your paper that three additional historical markers have been dedicated in Pendleton County. This is quite commendable and I admire Dr. Charles P. Harper and other people whose efforts and public spirit have made these markers a reality. The observations I will make in this letter should not, therefore, be construed to be of a critical nature.
I was distressed when I observed, and I believe many other people will be disappointed to learn that the Smoke Hole marker mentions two caves, one of which I have not yet been able to identify, but omits to mention the famous Smoke Hole Cave, from which the entire area derived its name.
I believe it is important to preserve for all time this interesting bit of history, particularly since another cave, outside this immediate area, in Grant County in more recent years has been given the name of Smoke Hole Caverns.
Smoke Hole Cave is located west of the river about four miles from the Route 220 or Upper Tract entrance to Smoke Hole. It derived its name from a circular opening in its roof near its entrance. This has formed a natural chimney or “smoke hole” for fires burning at that point. According to tradition, Indians smoked their venison there and white people have used the “smoke hole” in a similar way through ensuing years. Certain it is that there is abundant evidence of smoke and previous fires at that point.
My interest in Smoke Hole Cave arises from my interest in Pendleton County history. This is, of course, accentuated by the fact that the only dwelling I now own is located nearby in Smoke Hole. Smoke Hole is proclaimed more and more as one of the points of scenic and historical interest in West Virginia. Countless times I have been asked and have been pleased to state how Smoke Hole got its unusual name. This, I believe, will always remain a fact of valuable and interesting history.
Perhaps we can get a special marker for Smoke Hole Cave, giving a brief account of the interesting history and tradition surrounding it. I would be pleased to help financially and otherwise with such a project.
Sincerely yours,
Harlan M. Calhoun
100 YEARS AGO
By LON K. SAVAGE
Editor’s Note—The following is one of a series of articles on the Civil War. Each weekly installment covers events which occurred exactly 100 years ago.
War Action Shifts
To East Tennessee
“Your forces must move forward without delay,” the telegram read. “You will daily report the movement of each corps till you cross the Tennessee River.”
The telegram was sent 100 years ago this week from Federal Gen. Henry W. Halleck in Washington to Gen. William S. Rosecrans, commander of the United States Army of the Cumberland, at Winchester in south-central Tennessee. It marked a sudden Civil War change that took place in early August of 1863—a shift of action from the Mississippi River and from Virginia to a place between the two, east Tennessee.
The telegram, dated August 4, opened a campaign that would result in important battles the Federal conquest of east Tennessee and the opening of a Federal passageway into Georgia.
Rosecrans had been in Tennessee throughout 1863, but he had done little fighting. After Murfreesboro at the beginning of the year, his army had pitched camp facing the army of Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, then headquartered at Tullahoma, 40 miles to the south.
Six months passed before Rosecrans moved out of Murfreesboro toward Bragg, with his highly able lieutenants, Phil Sheridan, George H. Thomas and Thomas L. Crittenden leading the way. That was in late June, and Bragg, seeing the advance, tried to resist, and then fell back behind the Cumberland Mountains and the Tennessee River to Chattanooga in the state’s southeastern corner.
Rosecrans advanced his army to the south and east and occupied Tullahoma, and there things bogged down again.
But now, Rosecrans was being compelled to move. Every day, letters and telegrams came in from Washington, prodding him to action. Rosecrans offered excuses; he asked for re-enforcements; he even offered to resign, but from Washington came only more requests that he move out against Bragg. Even President Lincoln got into the act by urging Rosecrans to move.
Bragg, meanwhile, was also exchanging telegrams and letters from Chattanooga with his superiors at Richmond. Atlanta, he reported, was in great danger, and he did not have enough men to beat Rosecrans. Richmond answered: if Joe Johnston’s army from Mississippi was to re-enforce Bragg, could he, Bragg, then attack Rosecrans and defeat him?
Bragg’s answer: a river and “rugged and sterile” mountain range separated him from Rosecrans; to cross these obstacles and attack “would be rashness.” Better, he said, to wait and let Rosecrans “present himself on this side of the mountains…”
Bragg would not have long to wait. That very day, August 5, Rosecrans was preparing at long last to move across the mountains. And at the same time, another army under Gen. Ambrose Burnside of the Department of Ohio was preparing to move into east Tennessee with Knoxville as its target.
Next week: Rosecrans moves out.
70 Years Ago
Week of July 30, 1953
EDITORIAL
THE NEW DOCTORS – – –
The headline story on the front page pertaining to our two new doctors is about the best news that it has been our privilege to print. The county has long been in need of more physicians. We now have one doctor for each 2,500 people, which is a pretty good ratio for a rural area.
We are indeed fortunate to get these two young men, for the shortage of doctors is nation-wide. Many other communities made them attractive offers, but Dr. Rexrode preferred to return to his home county, and Dr. Maxwell, his close friend and classmate, decided to join him. They are both country boys and both prefer rural people.
The county is certainly delighted that they are with us.
PEACE – – –
The Korean war is over. The 3-year conflict has cost the Allies 75,000 killed in action, including about 25,000 Americans. Over 250,000 Allied soldiers were wounded and some 84,000 captured or listed as missing. The war kept the United States fighting longer than in World War I and cost Americans more than $22 million.
It was probably the most unpopular war this nation ever fought. News of the armistice did not touch off celebrations and wild rejoicings. The people of America like to play to win and when the score is tied they feel that they would have been better off if they hadn’t paid the price of the ticket.
Both sides claimed victory but the heavy losses suffered by both sides make it difficult to believe. The aggression was stopped and the United Nations has been strengthened—but the aggressor goes unpunished. After three years of war, Korea is still ununified.
The old soldier who “faded away” said it very aptly— “There is no substitute for victory.”
