The Four Vagabonds

Unfortunately, our planned trip (August-September) westward had to be postponed some weeks ago and then eventually cancelled due to various circumstances.  Unwilling to let such circumstances rule or control our lives, we’ve decided to do a few small “On the Road Again” trips just to show our obstinacy.  We didn’t go far on this first trip and we didn’t go for long (two days), but we were able to visit and enjoy a lunch with each of our two grandsons at their respective college campuses and visit our friends (from college days) Mark and Norva.

While visiting Mark and Norva near Horseshoe Run, West Virginia,  I learned about the “Four Vagabonds” who visited the area one hundred years ago (August 1918):  Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs (a local logger).  They traveled in six cars—two Packards for riding, two Model Ts, and two Ford trucks—plus seven drivers and helpers.  They drove from Pennsylvania down through West Virginia to Tennessee, and then swung over to North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, camping along the way.  The Four Vagabonds did a number of these trips in the years that followed. (More information can be found by visiting http://normbrauer.com/main/ and http://www.henryfordstate.org/).

Last month (August 2018) 25 Model Ts and one Packard visited the Horseshoe Run area to commemorate the Four Vagabonds camping trip of 1918.  Back in 1918 a photo was taken of Ford, Firestone, Edison,  and Burroughs posing at an ancient waterwheel at Evan’s Mill.  Over the years the huge waterwheel and the mill itself faded into time, but my friend, Mark, re-created the waterwheel (2016)  and constructed the Leadmine Museum (2017) to pay homage to the old Evans Mill.  The museum is located on the site of the old mill and houses a collection of interesting artifacts and other “Mark-built” pieces.  Millstones, their housings and gears found in the Horseshoe Run area are on display, along with a miniature steam engine and a replica of an 1830’s hand pumped fire engine, both built by Mark.

There are many fascinating stories told by old-timers along Horseshoe Run about the famous inventors (and companion Burroughs) who called themselves the Four Vagabonds.  They  made their “camp on the banks of a large, clear creek in West Virginia called Horseshoe Run,” back in August 1918.  We camped in our comfortable Odyssey (mini RV) in Mark and Norva’s driveway just a day ago, and listened to the rippling waters of that same Horseshoe Run the whole night long.  It was a pleasant thought to know that the Four Vagabonds had camped along this creek just as we were doing. More pleasant still was our visit with our friends of over 50 years—Mark and Norva—who live along “the banks of a large, clear creek in West Virginia called Horseshoe Run.”