How Old Woman's Run Got Its Name

Elk Hotel
Photo by Theresa ca 2017

2017 is the year I really started getting acquainted with the spooky little town of Sutton, West Virginia. One such trip led me to the end of the downtown district to check out the Elk Hotel, then known as Cafe Cimino. The beautiful historic home (which I'll be posting about in a different blog post!) sits at the confluence of the Elk River and a small creek and accompanying road named Old Woman's Run. 

At the time, I was intrigued with the odd name and even remarked to my partner that I bet there was a cool story behind it. And there was. It would just take me quite a while to find it and even longer to write about it.

The answer was waiting within the pages of The History of Braxton County and Central West Virginia, by John Sutton, grandson of the town founder. (You can read it for free at Internet Archive) It was published in 1919 and on page 40, tells exactly how Old Woman's Run came to be. 

During the early days of white settlement in the area, the area between Old Woman's Run and Granny Creek was filled with laurels, rocky cliffs, and dens. A large female bear roamed this area for years, giving birth to several litters of cubs. The she-bear wasn't seen for several years, but hunters in the area knew she was around by the extremely large tracks she would leave behind. It was these hunters who named the bear "Old Woman" and the creek near her stomping grounds, Old Woman's Run. 

The book goes on to mention that Old Woman was finally killed by hunters in the area where Moman Rhea lived. Although the book doesn't specify where exactly Rhea lived, it does give a little blurb about him later on. Rhea was one of the very few people of color in the entire county at the time the book was written. He was a former enslaved person, who, after his bondage had acquired quite a bit of land and become a progressive farmer known for his acts of kindness. 

To be honest, I'm kind of sad that the Old Woman of this story is simply a bear and not related to some ghostly apparition of an elderly woman haunting the hillside. However, this bear was described as being quite large and leaving behind large tracks. The book even notes that people of the area had always had issues raising pigs and lambs. What else leaves big tracks and steals livestock? Some may say Bigfoot. Interestingly enough, there are tales of just such a creature!

Reports of a possible Bigfoot have lasted up through modern day in the area of Sutton Lake....right near this confluence of the Elk River and Old Woman's Run Creek. These reports date back to at least 1919 when an interesting newspaper article about a wild man was published in the Evening Telegram out of Lakeland, Florida. The article reads:

Return of Wild Man Revives Old Terrors

Flatwoods, W. Va. – The belief that a wild man is still lurking in this vicinity, stealing and killing children and young pigs, is stronger than ever just now. A story related by Luther C. Douglas has dispelled all hopes that the terrible creature had fled to other localities. Douglas’ story follows:

“I was on my way home from lodge meeting,” said Douglas, “when I heard a noise near Ed Wiley’s barn, which is close to the road. I thought it might be a dog and paid little attention to it at first. Then, as I was passing a vacant house a short distance from Ed’s place, I heard a distant door slam and a wild-looking fellow, in rags and with long hair and beard that others who have seen him have described, came rushing out of the front door of the old house, brandishing a huge knotted club and uttering the most horrifying sounds I ever have heard.

“Being convinced by his actions that I was to be assaulted and possibly killed, I drew my revolver and took two shots at him. With this he turned and fled, screaming louder than ever. I didn’t pursue him. Not me. It would take a braver man than I profess to be to go on the trail of that horrible creature.”

The authorities are again agitating the question of taking some means to capture the much-feared lunatic, or whatever he is.

Obviously, whatever or whomever was stealing children and pigs in 1919 was described as being more human (even wearing some type of clothing and brandishing a weapon) than a she-bear, it gives one pause as to what exactly was going on in the little town of Sutton, so close to Flatwoods. 

Evening Telegram (Lakeland Florida)
08 March 1919