Kerr. , History of Kentucky , Vol. I, 1922, p.129 The Pound Gap and Great Cave Charles Blue-Jacket in his conversations concerning Kentucky, and particularly Eastern Kentucky, said that the region about what is known as Pound Gap and the Breaks of the Sandy River, was ever held in reverence and sacred remembrances by the Shawnees. The tradition in the tribe describes a mighty cave there in which the warriors hid their women and children while they fought a great battle with a combination of other tribes, among them the Cherokees. The Shawnees were defeated, but they returned when their enemies had retired from the country and brought out their wives and children. In his description of the cave he said that it extended from one side of the mountain to the other, being many miles in extent, and that it could be entered at several different points and on both sides of the great mountain range under which it lay. Some of the principal mines worked by Swift and his companions were in the vicinity of this great cave, and they finally made it the storehouse for all their surplus production of silver. They carefully covered the entrances to the cavern when they departed from the country. The Shawnees and the Wyandots often went to this country to hunt, even after Easter Kentucky was settled by the white people. Charles Blue-Jacket s father went into the cave on more than one occasion. He had not been with Swift, but his father had been. There is a secret religious society among the Shawnees, which preserves many of the rites of the old pagan life, and this great cave had some significance in the ritual of that order. To the hoof-beats of the horse along the roadway through Pound Gap the mountain sounds like it was hollow, especially when the solid rock is trodden. At some points in this mountain gap every step seems echoed through the underground caverns with which it is certain the mountain is honeycombed. There are some places in this region where a smart blow with an iron implement, on the living bed-rock, or with a maul upon the ground, sounds like a blow upon a huge drum. From this cause the gap was first called Sounding Gap. The Shawnees called all this land The Country about the Hollow Mountain. It is evident that the Indians lived here in considerable numbers at some time in the past, for many of the ridge-tops are covered with long heaps of loose stones, plainly carried there, called by the people of the country Indian graves. Some parts of the journal of John Swift refer in unmistakable terms to this region. The name Sounding Gap fell into disuse and was replaced by the name Pound Gap after the name Pound was bestowed on the upper course of the Big Sandy River. It seems that this name was given the river at rather an early period. A number of pioneers came once into that country to hunt and brought their horses with them. In casting about for a convenient place for an enclosure they found the points in the river where it makes a great bend or circle, coming back to within a few hundred yards of where it was first deflected from a direct course. The nearest points in this circle were joined with a fence built across the Neck, and this with the river formed a perfect enclosure, which came to be spoken as the Pound River, and it was said to run through Pound country. This name finally replaced the original one, and one branch of the Big Sandy River in its upper course became the Pound River. And this name, having a similar sound, soon usurped the name of the mountain pass and the Sounding Gap
CRAVINGS AND LAND MARKS IN EXISTANCE TODAY The half‑moon cliff is referenced in some of the old journals. There is a half‑moon cliff on lower devils creek in Wolfe County. The SJM Rock . This rock is below the half‑moon cliff about 150 yards. Have Photo. Theory behind how the SJM Rock Works. Along with the compass rock. You must see through solid rock. Put one on top of the other. The Compass Rock . This rock is directly below the half‑moon cliff. Have Photo. The Rolling Rocks . . The lighthouse . At lower devils creek and the Kentucky River. The Mans Face . At lower devils creek and the Kentucky River. The Bell . The bell is actually a land mass. The topography with the river shapes it like a bell. It also has a crack in it just like the liberty bell. Towers of the Breaks Interstate Park The left hand for Glove craving . Have photo. also 101 craving along with this. Note this craving are in the Bell land mass. The inside out Indian moccasins, hands are also in the bell but not in the same place. Anchor, dagger in heart and SM initials off Big Andy ridge on Walker Creek side. Indian Chief Head and Star Burst off Big Andy on Walker Creek side. Haysi Rock : Is it an ancient map of the Northern Section of Pine Mountain
