Shelton Laurel Massacre (N.C.)

The Shelton Laurel Massacre refers to the execution of 13 accused Union sympathizers on or about January 18, 1863 by a Confederate regiment in the Shelton Laurel Valley of Madison County, North Carolina, at the height of the American Civil War. The event sparked outrage among North Carolina Governor Zebulon B. Vance and Solicitor Augustus Merrimon (the latter of whom investigated the event), and was published in numerous newspapers in northern states and as far away as Europe. While the massacre destroyed the military career and reputation of Lieutenant-colonel James A. Keith, the adjunct commander who ordered the executions, he was never brought to justice for the incident.

I wanted to go to the site of the Shelton Laurel Massacre, and, more importantly, the grave site of the 13 men and boys killed.  So, using MapQuest, I searched for the site to go see it.  MapQuest sent me on some wild goose chase up this po-dunk dirt road for several miles.  Realizing there was nothing there other than a few cows and a mailbox (with no house to go with it!), I turned around and used a good old paper map.  Which took me right to the history marker.

(Note the old sign in the background to the right of the tree.)

Seriously?!  This is where MapQuest is going to send me??

This is what happens when you use a real, paper map --

you find what you are looking for!

There's nothing else out here - just an

intersection and a bridge.

The sign said the grave sites were 8 miles east.   So, I ventured 8 miles east, only to find out that the graves are on private property.  Not wanting to get shot on private property (did I mention that everybody in N.C. is a member of the NRA?), I didn't go to see them.  (Oh, and also, it was a several-mile hike up a mountain along the Appalachian Trail to get to graves – that’s the real reason I didn’t go.)

The trip wasn't for naught, I saw some beautiful scenery along the North Carolina /  Tennessee border as I travelled a winding back road back to Asheville.

It seemed unusual to see a Muscovy duck and her little family along this back road.  When I stopped to take her picture, she shoved her chicks into a shallow ditch to hide them from me. She then gave me the stank-eye as if to warn me to stay away from her babies.  Animals think better than most humans I know!

Two beautiful horses!  Unlike the mother duck,

they were very friendly towards me!