Today a lone glacial rock still serves birds near Cannelton, PA. While working on the Guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania (University of Pittsburgh Press) I crawled over a rickety bridge to reach a unique 5 X 4 rock on top of a high hill–Painter's Knobat–to photograph it for the book.
At the foot of the hill is Little Beaver Creek. According to legend an eccentric itinerant carved the rock and also laid a line of boulders across the stream. This huge bird bath and feeder was designed to resemble a human head with round holes for eyes and a square mouth for holding water.
Dear Ones,
Not until yesterday when I was eating a tart apple did it occur to me decades after the book was published that Johhny Appleseed (John Chapman) probably made this tribute to the birds. He was a vegetarian, loved animals and was disturbed when anyone treated them cruelly.
As a member of the Swedenborgian Church, he preached along the way as he slept in the woods and built fires for warmth and cooking. He avoided interupting the lives of his fellow creatures he saw along the way.
Both he and the unknown eccentric itinerant were interested in agriculture and nurseries. Chapman wore a tin pan for a hat, makeshift clothing and walked in his bare feet as he spread apple seeds on his journey.
Chapman never married and spent his life planting seeds in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and West Virginia. He died in 1845. The stone was carved in the 1800s. I really think the mysterious stone mason was Johnny Appleseed.
Mame
helenesmith1.blog spot.com
Advocate for conservation in nature
