(Jan/Feb 2016) The Odd Marshall Expedition, Virginia (contributed by Eric J. Wallace) In 1812 Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Marshall, paddled the New River Gorge's powerful 10-foot waves in a 60-foot-long wooden bateau. This was America's way of creating economic ties with settlers. Centuries later in 2012, one brave (or crazy) man named Andrew Shaw re-enacted this experience in the James River with the help of five of his friends. They built a replica of the bateau and set out of Powhatan, Virginia. For more info: blueridgecountry.com/newsstand/magazine/lost-history-the-odd-trek-to-remember-the-oddmarshall-exped (Jan/Feb 2016) Lost Boy of the Smokies, Tennessee (contributed by Arthur McDade) In 1915 a 12-year-old boy ran away from home and found himself deep in the Smoky Mountains during a snowstorm. Without warm clothing, food or water this unidentified boy froze to death. For 60 years his identity was a mystery, until a chance meeting between his adult sister and a park ranger. Somehow, they managed to put two and two together and eventually confirmed this was indeed the grave of her brother Edd McKinley. His family finally found solitude in his death and engraved his name in the previously unmarked grave. For more info: blueridgecountry.com/newsstand/magazine/lostboy-of-the-smokies 102 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COMhttp://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM