Tag: David Hunter Strother

March 20, 1864: Skirmish at the Sinks of Gandy

On March 20, 1864, a Civil War skirmish occurred at the north end of the Sinks of Gandy in Randolph County. In the shootout, Union troops killed three Confederates and recaptured goods the Rebels had stolen from a Tucker County general store.

The Sinks of Gandy is one of our state’s most unusual places. Gandy Creek—a tributary of Dry Fork—seems to sink under the earth at a blind valley south of Yokum Knob, flows through a tunnel-like cave, and emerges about three-quarters of a mile downstream. It was famously described and sketched by David Hunter Strother in an article for Harper’s Magazine.

The Sinks may be the most visited wild cave in West Virginia. The cave takes the entire flow of Gandy Creek and can flood at a moment’s instant following a rain. A 1941 story in the Saturday Evening Post recounted how four cavers were trapped in the Sinks for hours.

The Sinks of Gandy have become even more popular in recent years due to the writings of Jack Preble and Martin Null, who wrote an award-winning 2010 short story on the topic.

March 8, 1888: Artist and Author David Hunter Strother Dies

Artist and author David Hunter Strother died at Charles Town in Jefferson County on March 8, 1888, at age 71. Born in Martinsburg in 1816, he studied art in New York City and Europe before returning to America, where he learned to design wood-block illustrations for books and periodicals.

In 1853, Strother wrote and illustrated an article about a sporting expedition in the Canaan Valley area. Submitted under the pen name “Porte Crayon,” the article became a sensation when it appeared in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine—beginning his long involvement with Harper’s.

At the beginning of the Civil War, he famously illustrated the destruction of the Harpers Ferry Armory as it was engulfed in flames. During the war, he served as a topographer for the Union army and later published his personal recollections in Harper’s Monthly. He also introduced much of America to the rural character and folkways of West Virginia in his 10-part series “The Mountains.”

David Hunter Strother later edited a newspaper in Charleston and served as a diplomat to Mexico. He was planning to resurrect his writing career at the time of his death.

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