April 2017 Hello SCAN. The second SCAN trip of the season was on private property, in Calhoun County, along the Congaree River at Fort Motte. This included Dick Watkins' Peterkin/Goodwyn Tract, the Sam and Kam Arant property, as well as the historic Fort Motte fort and battle site next door, (compliments of Luther Wannamaker). The weather was perfect and we had quite the flock of SCAN members as well as a potential member or two. We had Dick Watkins (Property Host), Sam Arant (Property Host), Dave and Claire Schuetrum, David Shelley, John Cely, James Wilson, Alison Smith, Hilda Flamholtz, Dave and Marty Kastner, Tom Jones, Mary Douglass, Jerry Bright, Caroline Eastman, Jan Ciegler, Kathy Boyle, Bert Pittman, Greg Ross, Ben Gregory, Phil Harpootlian, and Marcus Sizemore. We organized in the morning with Dick Watkins giving a brief itinerary of what we would see on the properties and where we would go. The first stop was the Fort Motte battle site. This was the exact spot where Rebecca Motte had her house taken by the British and transformed into a fort. We learned about the battle and the significance of the site. It is on top of the high bluff overlooking the river plain below. This was quite the view. We then followed Dick down in elevation on the bluff to the river below. There were some good bird sightings along the river. We soon loaded up and followed the jeep trail along a steep valley to where it opened up with two lakes below. The butterflies and dragonflies drew the collecting nets out. After a short stay, we headed up hill and visited the "Devil's Track", which is a historic sandstone rock with an interesting history going back into the 1800s and even possibly the 1700s. This was on top of the bluff. We backtracked our path and safaried from the Fort Motte property over to, and along, Dick Watkins' and Sam Arants' properties. The goal was to visit a spectacular place called, "Lover's Leap", on top of the bluff overlooking the Congaree National Park below and at a place on the river called the "Devil's Elbow". We had lunch there sitting on the benches and had quite the interesting talk with maps on the geology of the area by Dr. David Shelley who had mapped the area out for the National Park. We rambled along and below the bluff until we were worn out and it was time to safari out to the "House of Pizza", at St. Matthews for dinner. What a day! Thank you Dave Schuetrum for arranging and leading this trip. Be sure to read the attached email with an interesting story that Dick Watkins sent to Dave after our trip. This month we are heading to Table Rock State Park to see how the wildfires from last year have affected the vegetation. It should be a great trip. SCAN members viewed "the Devil's Track" during SCAN's March 25, 2017 trip to Fort Motte. The tale of the Devil’s Track is perhaps Calhoun County's best-known story. John Lloyd and Rachel, his wife, gained lasting fame -- after a stranger stopped at their home on a fateful evening circa 1750-1760. [With minor edits for clarity], I have transcribed Samuel Gaillard Stoney's account of the Devil's Track. Are you skeptical about these extraordinary events? Remember that John and Rachel Lloyd were real people in Amelia Township, residing near the road to McCord's ferry (preceded by Joyner's ferry). The "Lloyd" home site is identified on James Cook’s 1773 Map of the Province of South Carolina. Thank you for visiting Fort Motte on March 25. I hope you will return. Dick Watkins March 28, 2017 The Devil's Track “It was [William Heatly’s] sister Rachel who maintained the matriarchal tradition in this generation. She and her second husband, John Lloyd, lived near where the main road to Camden crossed the Congaree [River] at McCord’s Ferry and not far from a long ridge called Buck Head Hill that bluffed over the river for about a mile. [John] Lloyd, though incurably hospitable, was also given to flights of wild profanity that sometimes assumed awesome proportions. This led to the adventure that proved Rachel’s heritage. “One evening when dusk was turning to dark, a courtly stranger – driving a fine black gig-horse and vehicle to match – stopped to ask the distance to the ferry. [John] Lloyd, taking no denial, had him in to stay the night and sent the equipage to the stable. “Its owner was a swarthy man, elegantly but conservatively dressed in black broadcloth, who walked with a slight limp. At the supper table, he proved almost too congenial and companionable, sharing enthusiastically [John] Lloyd’s pet prejudices and aversions. As Lloyd began to express himself more freely, his receptive guest pushed him into his great failing. Profanity streamed forth. “The stranger enticed further oaths, and the horrified Rachel began to detect the smell of smoke. Apparently, it came from under the table, increasing as her husband’s language became more and more unseemly. A quick glance revealed sulphurous wisps hovering about the stranger’s well-varnished boots. The heels seemed to burn into the floor whenever [John] Lloyd’s curses became egregious. And Rachel realized that the boots were mismatched. One of them was shaped for all the world like the hoof of an ox. “She knew what must be done. So soon as she was able, she got off into the next room with her Bible, opened it to the last page, and began to read it backwards. As she read, she could hear through the walls the creature she knew to be the Devil tempting her husband toward the brink of ultimate blasphemy. The words which would assure his eternal damnation, she fended off with Holy Writ. She held out to the third cock-crow. “At its sound, the Devil leaped up from the table, ran out to the porch, and took a tremendous jump to a rock on the highest point of Buck Head Hill, and cannoned from it across five miles of river swamp to the land in the forks of the Congaree and Wateree. The horse hitched itself to the gig and bounded over the rock and after its master. “Conveniently for posterity, the track of the gig and the deep prints of the mismatched feet have remained in that senseless thing to bear witness to the power of the Sterling women’s heritage in the red hills.” ====================== *The DULLES FAMILY in South Carolina, by Samuel Gaillard Stoney, pages 5-6. A Keepsake published on the occasion of a Commencement Address by the Honorable John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State of the United States, at the University of South Carolina, Monday, the sixth of June, 1955. Published by the University of South Carolina, Columbia, 1955. Table Rock State Park Area April 22, 2017 Saturday Meet at 10:30 AM We have an exciting opportunity to observe the impact of the wildfires which burnt through this area in late 2016. We will SCAN the Palmetto Trail on the western edge of Table Rock State Park. We will see pockets of burned areas and views of the granite face of Table Rock above us. Walking through the mesic hardwood forest, there are plenty of wonderful features to scout for flora and fauna on, boulders, small cave, and creek. Scouting the area in February, we found orchids, ferns, trout lilies, 5 species of Hickories, elms, basswood, magnolias, new growth emerging from charred areas, signs of boar rootings and cat prints. The trial is easy to strenuous depending on your route and speed. Fire hot spots Location: Bethel Terrace, Pickens, SC 29671 35.021718, -82.713079 Directions; From Columbia Follow I-26 W and I-385 N to Greenville. Take exit 42 from I-385 N Take SC-183, Hester Store Rd, SC-135 N and SC-288 W to Hickory Hollow Road. More details: From SC 183, turn right onto Thomas Mill Rd. Sphinx station will be on corner. Turn first left onto Hester Store Road. The Hestor Store Historical landmark on the north side corner. Cross over Hwy 186 onto Hwy 135 being a slight right merge. Turn right onto Hwy 8 Left onto SC 288 Table Rock Road with the Pumpkintown General Store on corner. Go 3.5 miles. Turn right on Hickory Hollow Road. Go 1.1 miles . Cross over Hwy 11 Road changes name to West Gate Road. Approximately 0.6 miles to Bethel Terrace on left. Drive to back side gravel parking lot of shelter. Via Hwy 11 Cherokee Foothill Highway from I-26 After passing over the lake at Table Rock, Turn right onto West Gate Road. Go 0.8 miles, Stay left at Y, Bethel Terrace will be on your right. Camping: For those who would like to camp, we have available Saturday night. There is a wonderful field for star gazing for Lyrid meteors with no moon interference, collecting beetles, mothing and fun fellowship. This is primitive camping. Cost is $10. Le t me know if you plan to camp. For those who want more comfort Table Rock State Park has camping sites for $35 and Cabins for $160 per night. Dinner will be close by at Aunt Sues. 107 Country Creek Dr A, Pickens, SC 29671 Phone (864) 878-4366. From east end of West Gate Road and Hwy 11 intersection, Aunt Sues is 2.1 miles east on Hwy 11. This is a fun area with several local specialty shops, such as Aunt Sue's Mercantile House, The Glass House, The Wood House or Aunt Sue's Old House! Come join us! Trip leader Rita 864-706-6548 2017 SCAN Field Trips Locations subject to change.