One day, while driving down Route 42 between Friendsville and McHenry, I noticed one of those gray historical marker road signs by a small graveyard. The top line read “Meshach Browning,” and upon doing some research I found his autobiography Forty-Four Years, The Life of A Hunter. Reading this book provides valuable insight into the settlement of Garrett and Allegany Counties. In fact, Meshach is sometimes referred to as “The Father of Garrett County.”
Meshach was born in Damascus in Montgomery County in 1781, but made his way to Allegany County shortly after. It should be noted that Garrett County didn’t come into existence until 1872. At the time, Allegany County encompassed both present-day Allegany and Garrett Counties. Most of Meshach’s story takes place in modern Garrett County, but he refers to it as Allegany.
He moves his homestead around, starting in the north of the county and moving southward. Judging from his notes, his last home seems to be somewhere around present-day Swallow Falls State Park. He makes frequent mention of the Youghiogheny River.
Meshach was the Daniel Boone of Maryland. He details how he started with nothing but an empty shell of a hunting shack. Trough hard work, he carved a life as a cattle farmer and a mill operator out of the Garrett woodlands.
Most of the content Meshach shares in Forty-Four Years has to do with his life as a hunter. He was the most respected hunter in the county. He seems to have been especially athletically gifted, as he frequently jumps 12 feet, chases down deer, and even tackles a bear. In one particular account, Meshach decides he wants to capture some deer and take them home as pets. So he does! He chased down a buck, tackled it, tied it up, and brought it home, 2 miles through dense thickets.
In another account, a hunting friend jokingly challenges Meshach to fight a bear in hand-to-hand combat. Much to his friend’s surprise, Meshach runs in and gives the bear a run for its money. He was on the verge of killing it before his friend released his hunting dogs on the bear, an act Meshach called “ruining his fun.”
Even more interesting are Meshach’s interactions with wolves and panthers. Wolves and panthers were extirpated from Maryland in the mid-1800s as hunters and farmers killed them to protect their livestock. Meshach outlines the high rewards posted for the scalp, hide, or tail of a wolf or panther paid by the county. He details many gory battles between his hunting dogs and panthers, saying that even though they are fierce and nasty, they fight “ignorantly, making them easy to kill for an experienced woodsman.” Meshach claims he killed the last panther in Maryland, saying their numbers declined throughout his life, and that he never heard of one after his kill.
Either purposely or subconsciously, Meshach makes himself out to be the hero of Western Maryland. In every story Meshach includes where he hunts with a friend, he makes himself out to be strong in comparison to whoever is with him. Every time, whoever is with him seems to turn back in bad weather, refuse to take a shot, run away from a bear fight, or just plain refuse to follow Meshach’s crazy ideas. These men were also rough woodsman, among the most respected in the county, yet Browning puts them to shame!
Browning voices some beliefs that parents today would agree with. Even back in the 1840s, Browning complains how the youth are too soft, afraid to get their hands dirty, and don’t spend enough time outside. Browning should know, he had 12 children! At the time of his death, he had 122 living descendants.
Even then, Browning voices concerns about environmentalism. To find lands that still hold ample game, Browning and his children hunt farther and farther south as the book progresses. He starts in the area of Bear Creek, but begins to complain that grazing and over-hunting destroyed the game there. Eventually he hunts closer to Backbone Mountain, which he refers to as the most wild and unsettled place in the state. He also mentions that by the end of his life, populations of deer, bear, and rattlesnake were in noticeable decline.
Over the next 2 weeks, I will continue to write about insights Browning provides. I think this book is great for anyone looking to read about what life was like in the early settlement period of the Appalachian Mountains.
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