Pennsylvania Game News - August 2009 - 64

Lock, Stock & Barrel The Shooters’ Corner By Jim Romanelli By Don Lewis Good Company “H ERE IN THE YEAR 1922, this stone was uncovered while grading for the course of the Lakes-to-Sea Highway. Now in 1925, it is re-erected and dedicated to the memory of him whose name it bears. Daring hunter-trader-trapper or perhaps missionary of the cross — bold pioneer conquering the wilderness to found a nation. May the spirit of the pioneer be a sacred tradition encouraging us to greater efforts.” Nearly 90 years have passed since workers discovered the headstone. Roughly chiseled into this flat slab of sandstone is a simple inscription: “H.A. Smith Born Nov 11 1711 Died Sept 1 1777.” A cross appears at the top of the mostly hexagonal marker that is set in a 6-foot high boulder. A bronze plaque with the above wording is anchored to a pedestal that supports the boulder. This piece of history is along a country road I don’t normally travel by car. Usually, I pass the marker while riding my bicycle. In a vehicle I rarely stop; riding my bike I always do, especially on warm summer days. The memorial sits in the shade of hemlocks and sprawling red oaks. It’s cool here. A verdant patch of moss provides a comfortable resting spot where I sit or even lie down when I’m hot and weary. Like most cemeteries, this is a tranquil setting, a place for reflection. Although I don’t make a habit of resting amid tombstones, here I find it refreshing. Perhaps it’s because I’m in good company. Or is it because I’m an anachronism — someone out of place and time? Like H.A. Smith, might it have been better for me to have lived during the 18th century? Because the marker suggests Mr. Smith was a woodsman, I often wonder what it would be like to travel back to spend time with him. I’m certain we would have much in common. With him as my guide, there would be so much to see and experience. Pure sounds of nature without interference from road or air traffic would be a delight. Unpolluted waters, unspoiled land and night skies unmarred by artificial light would be well worth the trip. Flora and fauna would also prove interesting. I’d be able to see for myself if passenger pigeons, in their multitude, really did blot out the sun. With far fewer hunters, mature bucks would probably sport impressively large antlers. Native elk, American bison and even wolves and panthers would still be roaming the hills and valleys of the Pennsylvania frontier. With such predators in the woods, I might be both the hunter and the hunted. The forest they inhabited would also be quite different than today’s. Virgin white pines and hemlocks, wider than a man is tall, would tower over lesser trees. Although impressive, it’s American chestnuts I’d most want to see — a tree that purportedly made up 25 percent of Appalachian woodlands. Straight grained, decay resistant and with mast more bountiful and tasty than any other species, it was considered the queen of Eastern forests. In the presence of this memorial, I dream of wild places and wild things we can never experience. So much has been lost. Many years in the future, when our progeny stop to rest, and reflect beside weathered headstones, will they consider themselves in good company? By Gregg Rinkus 64 GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - August 2009

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