Buffalo Camp Road

This is the bridge to nowhere. The sign above it reads "Sawhill Bridge." (That's not "Sawmill," but "Sawhill.") I don't know what names might have once been tagged onto the tangled dirt lanes that pass through SGL #232, but I came upon Sawhill Bridge while following the old Buffalo Camp Road from west to east.

Sawhill Bridge connects PA221 with Buffalo Camp Road, but Buffalo Camp is gated and inaccessible to any but walkers, cyclists, and horseback riders. My guess is that the little connector lane between the two larger roads was once called Sawhill Road. Who knows? In any case, this is in Washington County, not too far from the pretty little hamlet of Taylorstown.

So, my wife and I are negotiating with each other for an iPhone, which will solve the problem of my abysmally bad photos. In the meantime, here are a few more lame-arse cell phone shots of an otherwise very scenic trek through the central/eastern portions of SGL #232.

Actually, the easternmost areas of this vast game land are mostly fields, and--strangely--they seem to be cultivated, too. I don't know if the PA Game Commission has taken to leasing out its land to farmers, though I do know that deer graze in open spaces, so fields are desirable for hunting.

Starting at the western end of Buffalo Camp Road (which is also gated), it takes about an hour to reach the covered bridge at the road's eastern end. You cross two old bridges en route, both of them constructed for vehicles, as attested by the fallen sign.

Actually, if you're walking along at a good citified clip, you'll reach a wide grassy intersection about 45 minutes into the trek. At this spot, the better graveled road (which I take to be Buffalo Camp) makes a sharp left. A lesser-used road continues straight ahead, crossing your second derelict bridge over a beautiful stream and coming to the covered bridge pictured above. The lesser-used road may be Sawhill.

The road more traveled-by leads up a hill and through a clear-cut, as seem in the last photo. It's not at all picturesque, but it does remind me very much of the road from Elat to Enongal in the South Province of Cameroon: a walk I used to make twice a day, everyday. That's why I took the picture.

A local ex-Presbyterian told me that Buffalo Camp used to be a Presbyterian church camp for kids. I'm not sure where the camp itself was located, but there is one especially large open area that I suspect might have been the site. Down in Washington County, Presbyterianism has always had a decidedly "campmeeting" feel to it. Personal conversions, rollicking tunes, the sawdust trail to salvation. It all gives me the willies. But history lingers long in these valleys.

Settler's Cabin(s)

The two cabins in the area of Settler's Cabin Park are confusing. One is called the "Walker-Ewing Log House" (below). It bears the official plaque of a historical landmark, and it's located on Noblestown Road just south of the park.

As you can see, the bottom house is still loved by somebody, and might even be inhabited. There was steam rising from the furnace vent when I stopped by. Actually, this place has three different markers, one claiming that it was constructed "circa 1785," one claiming "circa 1790," and a third asserting "circa 1795." That's what happens when you start lying about your age...or anything else for that matter; you lose track of the lies and forget what you've told people.

The smaller, simpler log cabin pictured above is actually inside the park on Pinkerton Run Road, just next door to the farmhouse posted below. The park is named for this cabin. It's called the "Walker-Ewing-Glass Log House," and nobody gives a damn about it. According to Wikipedia (truth democratized), this house "may have been built in the 1780s by a man named John Henry." Another source says that it was attacked by Indians in 1782.

How did anyone get any sleep back in those days? Every bump in the night might be a whole band of marauding murderers. Not to say that the indigenous peoples were bloodthirsty, but the attacks in the late 1700s were ruthless and gruesome. No police, no 911, not so much as a streetlamp. What would impel anyone to camp out in a place like that under the threat of being tortured and scalped, together with wife and children?

The top house, which is apparently a slightly older structure, sits boarded up and neglected, like the farmhouse next door to it. There are no historical markers, and even the sign that gives the name of the house is broken and leaning against the wall. On one exterior wall, someone has spray-painted the words, "I just wanted to say hi."

Alas, lord help the people, and the buildings, and the places that rely on Allegheny County for their upkeep and maintenance.

That neglected cabin would definitely require a flashlight if a person were to find a way inside. Just saying...