I have just finished reading John Hart's second novel set in Salisbury, Rowan Co., NC. It is entitled "Down River," and I think it is even better than his first novel ("King of Lies"). Both are murder mysteries but do reference local landmarks, though not real people. It is set in the modern day. In this new book he talks about a "knob" on the outskirts of Salisbury. He says it is "a massive upheaval of granite that could pass for a small mountain. Most of it was wooded slope, but the peak was barren, the soil too thin for much to grow. It commanded a view of the river's northern approach, and was the most inaccessible part of the property." He recounts an old Sapona "legend" or history. When the white man came, the Indians did not want to give up their land. At the top of the knob was a large fissure or chasm, and all the Indian fled there, planning to fight. Apparently the Indians were massacred and all the bodies (men, women, children), even the living, were thrown down into the fissure. The living women and children were thrown in first and the dead bodies were thrown down on top of them. He goes on to say that "the legend is that so much blood soaked into the water table that the springs ran red for days after." This may be fiction or fact and I wonder which. Does anyone know? My John Pool family lived near the Granite Quarry after 1810. I wonder if this "knob" is actually a real place and if it still exists today. I understand that Chestnut Hill Cemetery is now located at or near the Quarry. Betty Pace

And we are supposed to be civilized white people! Betty G. >I have just finished reading John Hart's second novel set in Salisbury, > Rowan Co., NC. It is entitled "Down River," and I think it is even > better than his first novel ("King of Lies"). Both are murder mysteries > but do reference local landmarks, though not real people. It is set in > the modern day. > > In this new book he talks about a "knob" on the outskirts of Salisbury. > He says it is "a massive upheaval of granite that could pass for a small > mountain. Most of it was wooded slope, but the peak was barren, the soil > too thin for much to grow. It commanded a view of the river's northern > approach, and was the most inaccessible part of the property." > > He recounts an old Sapona "legend" or history. When the white man came, > the Indians did not want to give up their land. At the top of the knob > was a large fissure or chasm, and all the Indian fled there, planning to > fight. Apparently the Indians were massacred and all the bodies (men, > women, children), even the living, were thrown down into the fissure. > The living women and children were thrown in first and the dead bodies > were thrown down on top of them. He goes on to say that "the legend is > that so much blood soaked into the water table that the springs ran red > for days after." > > This may be fiction or fact and I wonder which. Does anyone know? > My John Pool family lived near the Granite Quarry after 1810. I wonder > if this "knob" is actually a real place and if it still exists today. I > understand that Chestnut Hill Cemetery is now located at or near the > Quarry. > > Betty Pace > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ROWANROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message