Jackson County. A ramble is something Spearfi nger there was, of course, liver. akin to a walking tour through many of There are many legends and tales She had a particular fondness for the old cemeteries dotting the moun- surrounding the tribe who Whiteside Mountain and its stone tainsides of Western . have called the mountains of Western face is attributed to Spearfnger, leg- “Th ere were two black dogs fi ghting Carolina home for generations. end states. over her body and this event is even Th ere is the lost Cherokee gold and Children were warned not to venture documented in a newspaper article ap- silver legend, where the Cherokee hid out at night for fear of being Spearfi n- pearing in the Sylva newspaper at the their riches in caves around the base of ger’s next victim… or next meal. time,” she said. the mountains during the time of the Th ere have been sightings of the two , to keep the white man So many stories, so little time black dogs roaming the grounds at High from their gold and silver. Th ere are so many stories and leg- Hampton over the years following Lou- “And then, there is Spearfinger,” ends about the mountains surround- isa’s tragic demise. Even Louisa’s spec- Clark said. ing Franklin and Highlands, Clark tral form, roaming the resort’s grounds. Spearfi nger is a Cherokee who said. Clark said, when family members had a taste for human liver, according He covers many of these sto- appeared at the barn where Hannibal to legend. ries, some anchored in truth, others Heaton had found her, some cried out, Spearfi nger lived in the mountains shrouded in myth, in his ghost tours. “It happened! It happened!” of Western North Carolina, and was “Th ey’re all good stories and all en- Yes, Louisa had long threatened to particularly fond of Whiteside. tertaining to hear,” he said. kill herself if her husband ever sold her Her Spearfi nger name draws atten- But another place, perhaps. property, but that’s not what her family tion to her sharp index fi nger on her Another time. members were talking about, Clark said. right hand, which was made of stone. When the sun sets low behind the “In foretelling her death, Louisa pre- Th e sharp fi nger resembled a spear. cracked, blue window pane of the far dicted there would be two black dogs According to legend, Spearfi nger was mountainous horizon and the wind fi ghting over her body, and that pre- drawn to the smoke of a campfi re and carries the fi rst chill of autumn on its diction was verifi ed in the newspaper where there was smoke, there were wings. Gather round the campfi re and story,” Clark said. people, and where there were people, have a listen… We’ve got stories to tell.

Leaf Season • August 2019 15 • MOUNTAINLi fe