"The Sasquesahanougs are a Gyant like people
& thus atyred"
& thus atyred"
Susquehannock Warrior, Detail from 1612 Map of Virginia - Courtesy of TheLearningCurve.UK.gov
At last, have been able to enjoy a solid two days' time spent on my research! Both days (Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7) were at the Baldwin Library of the MdHS, where I had to be nudged out of my chair at closing time (4:30 p.m.).
And also yesterday, first thing in the morning, I searched in vain for over an hour and a half up and down the Gwynns Falls Trail (map) starting at the trailhead off Washington Boulevard up to Wilkins Avenue and back -- for the marker* that describes two early Native American crossings of the stream quite close to the Inner Harbor, within approximately 2.8 miles. However, as one who has explored a lot on Reservations in Arizona with the help of Native friends, I think I was able to apply logic to the task yesterday, as well as use clues from the marker record online, and visually identified two likely places for the stream crossings.
At last, have been able to enjoy a solid two days' time spent on my research! Both days (Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7) were at the Baldwin Library of the MdHS, where I had to be nudged out of my chair at closing time (4:30 p.m.).
And also yesterday, first thing in the morning, I searched in vain for over an hour and a half up and down the Gwynns Falls Trail (map) starting at the trailhead off Washington Boulevard up to Wilkins Avenue and back -- for the marker* that describes two early Native American crossings of the stream quite close to the Inner Harbor, within approximately 2.8 miles. However, as one who has explored a lot on Reservations in Arizona with the help of Native friends, I think I was able to apply logic to the task yesterday, as well as use clues from the marker record online, and visually identified two likely places for the stream crossings.
Of Fords, Felles, and Falls - Md Historical Marker Database ~ Photo by Christopher Busta-Peck, March 18, 2008
Eastern Woodland Indians traveling on foot followed animal trails, which in turn tended to run along higher ground such as ridge tops and led down to water sources such as streams using the path of least resistance, literally. Indian trails typically were 18" - 20" wide as the Natives walked in single file to make the least disturbance, exercise stealth, and maintain silence. This pattern of movement ensured the smallest profile for safety and camouflage purposes.
When it came to stream crossings by foot, the Woodland Indians frequently chose the confluence of two flows ('flus') where there normally would be a sand bar to facilitate the ford. They also favored still water over turbulence given approximately equal depths of the water. Yes, they practiced 'common sense' then as we do now.
So that's what I looked for yesterday in the general vicinity of what had been described as the crossings in the online version of the particular marker, and that's what I think I found. I'll be developing the pictures this week and post here shortly, and let you see if you agree.
(I do think I found where the marker had stood as recently as a year ago according to the marker site directions.)
Much evidence of despoilment of the site brought up the first impression of 'how sad' that the essentially beautiful and well laid-out trail (by Frederick Law Olmsted, no less) shows modern urban degradation in that the stream banks are badly spoiled with trash and debris far more than a single storm could deposit, and there are multiple warning signs posted along the trail that the water itself is dangerous.
The park as a whole gave me an uneasy sense of danger lurking for a single woman to walk along its trails where for most of the path I was the only person in sight, even on a bright sunny Saturday morning and even with the jarring noise of I-95 week-end traffic speeding by within sight to the south of the trailhead and with the discordant din of Baltimore City trash bulldozers laboring in a dump to the north along the trail ahead.
This instinct was punctuated by separate warnings from two other solitary strollers I passed by on my way out of the park, both older gentlemen, both wielding golf clubs for protection, to the effect that I shouldn't be there alone. They noted that autumn was a relatively safer time than warmer spring and summer when the homeless-by-choice or by-dementia population and other "hobo-types" set up small camps scattered throughout the grounds. These conditions have led to various criminal activity in the park, which unfortunately occurs to greater or lesser degree year round according to hourly security patrols from the Carroll Park public golf course adjacent to the trail.
But then I thought as I more quickly made my way back to the safety of my car although this beautiful 'felles' and its banks surely were unspoiled, pristine, and even more lovely four-hundred years ago – mere "moments in time" before Captain John Smith explored the harbor** particularly the mouth of the “Bolus” (Patapsco) in 1608 -- the area probably would have been even more dangerous back then:
When it came to stream crossings by foot, the Woodland Indians frequently chose the confluence of two flows ('flus') where there normally would be a sand bar to facilitate the ford. They also favored still water over turbulence given approximately equal depths of the water. Yes, they practiced 'common sense' then as we do now.
So that's what I looked for yesterday in the general vicinity of what had been described as the crossings in the online version of the particular marker, and that's what I think I found. I'll be developing the pictures this week and post here shortly, and let you see if you agree.
(I do think I found where the marker had stood as recently as a year ago according to the marker site directions.)
Much evidence of despoilment of the site brought up the first impression of 'how sad' that the essentially beautiful and well laid-out trail (by Frederick Law Olmsted, no less) shows modern urban degradation in that the stream banks are badly spoiled with trash and debris far more than a single storm could deposit, and there are multiple warning signs posted along the trail that the water itself is dangerous.
The park as a whole gave me an uneasy sense of danger lurking for a single woman to walk along its trails where for most of the path I was the only person in sight, even on a bright sunny Saturday morning and even with the jarring noise of I-95 week-end traffic speeding by within sight to the south of the trailhead and with the discordant din of Baltimore City trash bulldozers laboring in a dump to the north along the trail ahead.
This instinct was punctuated by separate warnings from two other solitary strollers I passed by on my way out of the park, both older gentlemen, both wielding golf clubs for protection, to the effect that I shouldn't be there alone. They noted that autumn was a relatively safer time than warmer spring and summer when the homeless-by-choice or by-dementia population and other "hobo-types" set up small camps scattered throughout the grounds. These conditions have led to various criminal activity in the park, which unfortunately occurs to greater or lesser degree year round according to hourly security patrols from the Carroll Park public golf course adjacent to the trail.
But then I thought as I more quickly made my way back to the safety of my car although this beautiful 'felles' and its banks surely were unspoiled, pristine, and even more lovely four-hundred years ago – mere "moments in time" before Captain John Smith explored the harbor** particularly the mouth of the “Bolus” (Patapsco) in 1608 -- the area probably would have been even more dangerous back then:
... Imagine encountering a small hunting party of the tall and powerfully-built Iroquois Susquehannocks moving silently through sun-dappled woods to the stream bank to cross to the deeper water of the harbor to retrieve their large canoes that had been hidden in the marsh and continue on to their next raid down the bay where their prey lived, the Algonquin Piscataways (or “Conoys - Conoois” in the Iroquois tongue).
On to the Baldwin! where I was glad to find shelter and a cheery welcome from Mr. O’Neill as I retrieved my books from where he keeps them for me on “my” cart and settle into a cozy – and safe – afternoon at the library.
------------------------------------
* Maryland Historical Marker Database, online at http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6390:
"The Susquehannock and Algonquian Indians had long traveled through this area when Captain John Smith explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay region in 1608 As the Susquehannocks went from Pennsylvania to the bay, they crossed the Gwynns Falls stream at two fords one near the stone pillars of the former Brunswick Street Bridge - visible from the trail - and the other near Washington Boulevard. Smith noted that the streams often tumbled over "felles" or "fells," later called falls. This stream (or falls) was named for Maryland settler Richard Gwinn, who in 1669 established a post, probably at Gwynns Run, to trade with the Indians. Gwinn made plans for a "New Town" and built a stone fort - one of the first in an ongoing series of human imprints on the landscape."
On to the Baldwin! where I was glad to find shelter and a cheery welcome from Mr. O’Neill as I retrieved my books from where he keeps them for me on “my” cart and settle into a cozy – and safe – afternoon at the library.
"This portrait of Captain John Smith appeared on a 1616 map of New England. The image is colorized by Jamie May from an original engraving by Simon de Passe," courtesy of Preservation Virginia: (Hmmm... what would it have been like to come up against him on the trail!)
* Maryland Historical Marker Database, online at http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6390:
"The Susquehannock and Algonquian Indians had long traveled through this area when Captain John Smith explored and mapped the Chesapeake Bay region in 1608 As the Susquehannocks went from Pennsylvania to the bay, they crossed the Gwynns Falls stream at two fords one near the stone pillars of the former Brunswick Street Bridge - visible from the trail - and the other near Washington Boulevard. Smith noted that the streams often tumbled over "felles" or "fells," later called falls. This stream (or falls) was named for Maryland settler Richard Gwinn, who in 1669 established a post, probably at Gwynns Run, to trade with the Indians. Gwinn made plans for a "New Town" and built a stone fort - one of the first in an ongoing series of human imprints on the landscape."
** Maryland Historical Marker Database, online at http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6360: “Captain John Smith visited the Patapsco River twice in 1608 after settling at Jamestown the previous year. In a 40-foot shallop, Smith and his crew were exploring the Chesapeake Bay hoping, in vain, to discover a passage to the Pacific Ocean. On the first journey they moored near the Patapsco's mouth and traveled across the Middle Branch, the basin for both the Gwynns Falls stream and the Patapsco River. They found the Patapsco navigable as far as the falls at Elkridge and placed a brass cross there to claim the valley for England. On the second trip Smith's party again anchored near the Patapsco before exploring the upper Chesapeake.”
