All over the United States, each community has come together to celebrate and honor how American history and traditions have shaped them. Most have commissioned commemorative murals and other events to tell their own stories in their own ways.
Pendleton County’s story is that of the early American frontier as it was even before the United States existed.
Historian Frederick Jackson Turner wrote an essay in the 1890s about the “significance of the frontier in American history.” That essay described how a fluid frontier, and the effort of those who settled there to wring order from what they saw as chaos, shaped the development of the United States. Frontier ways still reverberate in rural areas, their values surviving even as urban areas have developed differently.
Turner wrote that “Now, the frontier is the line of most rapid and effective Americanization. The wilderness masters the colonist. It finds him a European in dress, industries, tools, modes of travel, and thought.
“It takes him from the railroad car and puts him in the birch canoe. It strips off the garments of civilization and arrays him in the hunting shirt and the moccasin. It puts him in the log cabin of the Cherokee and Iroquois and runs an Indian palisade around him.
“Before long he has gone to planting Indian corn and plowing with a sharp stick; he shouts the war cry and takes the scalp in orthodox Indian fashion. In short, at the frontier the environment is at first too strong for the man. He must accept the conditions which it furnishes or perish, and so he fits himself into the Indian clearings and follows the Indian trails.”
Even though Turner taught at the University of Wisconsin, much of what he says about the impact of the frontier resonates in Pendleton County, almost 300 years after the original settlement.
This is excluding the railroad car, of course!
Indeed, one could have called the celebration at Upper Tract “America 270” since that is about when George Washington of the Virginia colonial militia ordered construction of a fort there to defend against attacks from the French and their Indian allies.
Also, one could have also called the Upper Tract celebration Pendleton County Historical Society 100, as the organization celebrated its centenary as well.
Attendees could peruse a replica of the John Dahmer house, complete with furnishings, a collection of farm tools from Johnny Arvin Dahmer and others, traditional children’s crafts and games, demonstrations, and exhibits from the War of Independence and also the Civil War.
Paul Clayton, president of the Pendleton County Historical Society, noted that a team of volunteers worked hard the day prior to set up the property for the day. Festivities took place on the grounds of the historical society’s property centered on the former Upper Tract Presbyterian Church. Much of the time was spent in painstakingly organizing for display the collection of tools in the replica of John Dahmer’s house.
About 120 came to enjoy a hands-on educational experience of history and tradition with 78 signing the book at the replica house, according to Richard Ruddle citing numbers provided by Dwayne Borror, all part of the historical society’s leadership.
“We were really pleased with the crowd,” shared Clayton. He added that among the visitors, “We had a pretty good mixture. A lot came over from the valley,” Clayton added.
Richard Ruddle gave a history of the church and also of the Pendleton County Historical Society in general.
Music from the “Dulcimer Dames” provided traditional sounds that helped to put attendees into the old-time mindset. Crafts demonstrations included a wool demonstration where artists carded and spun it, creating little lambs and other keepsakes. Sabrina Nesselrodt, Robin Kile, and Holly Hubbs worked the spinning machine. Vickie Skavenski showed attendees how traditional split-bottom chairs were made.
Clayton stated that they “really appreciated the Upper Tract Volunteer Fire Department letting us use their lot for parking. That was a big help. Mike Alt didn’t hesitate when I went to him and asked.” That freed up the lot at the church for handicapped parking, serving those who faced more challenges getting around.
He added that “Tina Eye provided the food,” which included a number of old-fashioned church picnic style favorites such as macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, baked beans, cole slaw, hamburgers, and much more.
Of course, Pendleton County’s history is forever intertwined with that of the conflicts fought on and for the land. Greg Adamson displayed and described artifacts from the War of Independence while Dwayne Borror and Austen Whetzel set up a representation of a typical Civil War camp one might see in the mountains back then.
The historical society held its business meeting during the official presentation, appointing Pat Alt as treasurer. She had recently retired from Pendleton County Schools.
