The 25th crossed the ferry called Peper's ferry[1] on the New River and afterward crossed from the West to the East side of the Alleganies; slept on a branch of James river called Catawba which flows eastward while the New River flows West of the Mountains.
The 26th continued on my way to Botetort Court house 30 miles.
The 27th passed by Botetort Court house[2] and by the south Branch of the James River 12 miles from Botetort.
The 28th passed by Lexington[3] 40 miles distant from Botetort and by the north branch of James river to one Mile from Lexington. Thuya occidentalis, Pinus Strobus.
The 29th of November, remained in Mac Dowall's house;[4] my horse's leg was so swelled that he could not walk.
The 30th journeyed 27 miles.
Sunday the first of December 1793 passed by Stanton, a small and rather flourishing town situate 120 Miles from Richemont and 75 Miles from Botetort.[5]
————
- ↑ The early route through the Virginia Valley crossed New River at Ingles's Ferry, a short distance west of Blacksburg, Montgomery County. A new road shortened the distance and crossed the New River about five miles farther up the stream, at a ferry operated by the pioneer family of Pepper. They are alluded to in the Draper MSS., Wisconsin Historical Library, 1 QQ 97.—Ed.
- ↑ Botetourt Court House, now Fincastle, the seat of Botetourt County (established in 1769), was laid off as a town in 1772 on land donated for the purpose by Israel Christian. It was named for the ancestral seat of Lord Botetourt, an early governor of Virginia.—Ed.
- ↑ Lexington was established by law in 1777 as county seat for Rockbridge, then newly-formed out of Augusta and Botetourt. See ante, note 28.—Ed.
- ↑ Col. James McDowell, who lived near Fairfield, Rockbridge County, was a descendant of the Scotch-Irish settler, Capt. John McDowell, who came to the valley as a surveyor in 1737, and was killed in the first Indian fight therein (1742).—Ed.
- ↑ The present roads through the Valley of Virginia follow the course described by Michaux, passing through the same towns. Staunton is one of the earliest towns of the region, having been settled in 1732 by John Lewis, a Scotch-
