Fayette County, West Virginia       Legend of Lovers Leap

The Legend of Lovers Leap was submitted by Sandy Spradling,
E-mail address:  <SSpradling@aol.com>

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A short distance above the Hawk's Nest is a large shelving rock which
projects over a cliff, nearly five hundred feet in height, called the
"Lovers' Leap."  With this there is connected an interesting tradition, of
which I present the following versions.
Soon after the first settlement of Greenhrier county, a young couple, whose
names have been lost in the lapse of time, fled from Fort Union to find a
home where they might consummate the height of their earthly hopes-a marital
union-which had been denied them by the young girl's parents, who resided at
the fort.  Their steps were directed west ward, with the hope of finding
another settlement, there to be duly united in wedlock according to the style
and customs of frontier life. On arriving at this romantic spot, beholding
the lofty precipice, and being deeply impressed with the scenery sublime,
they stood entranced upon its summit.  Whilst drinking in the grandeur of
nature, standing upon the brink of the cliff, an overpowering dizziness siezed
upon the lady; she staggered forward, and before she could be rescued by the
strong arm of her lover, fell over the cliff to the rocks beneath.  The young
hunter, driven to temporary insanity by the loss of her whom he loved dearer
than his own life, leaped over the precipice, and like her was dashed to
pieces upon the rocks below.  The parents of this couple, knowing their
attachment for each other, on learning that they had left the fort, organized
a party to pursue them.  They started upon their trail, which they managed to
keep without difficulty until they arrived at the point from which the fatal
leap was taken, and being like-wise infatuated with the grandeur of the
scene, halted upon its top crag and surveyed the valley beneath them.  While
thus engaged, the limb of a small cedar, which stood upon the margin of the
cliff, was noticed to have been split off, and there came upon the party a
misgiving that the objects of their search had fallen over the precipice.
Search was at once made, and their forebodings proved to be real-there lay,
side by side, in the embrace of death, the bruised and mangled forms of the
young hunter and his betrothed.  This strange romance gave to the place the
name of "Lovers' Leap," which it will most likely retain forever.

If there be literal truth in any of the legends which have given the name to
this place, I would prefer the following to the one already given, as being
the more likely to have occurred; although there are persons who cling to
each of them as being literally true.

An Indian maiden had been commanded by her father-a chief-to marry a young
chief belonging to a neighboriig tribe.  The wishes of the maiden, according
to the Indian custom, had not been consulted, and she was frank in confessing
to her father that she did not love the person whom he had chosen for her
husband; that she loved a young warrior, who was handsome, fearless, brave
that she could never marry the chief, because her affection and her life were
pledged to the youthful warrior. This confession, of course, only made the
father the more determined in carrying out his desires; so he sternly
ordered the girl to obey him. She shrank from the impending calamity, and
after a consultation with her betrothed, they decided upon flight from the
wigwams of their kindred to find another home, where they could live as their
hearts directed that they should live-for and with each other.  On arriving
at this picturesque spot, and finding that they were pursued, rather than be
separated in life, they resolved to die together, and embracing each other
they plunged over this precipice, and were dashed to pieces upon the rocks at
its base.  hence, the legendary name "Lovers Leap"

History of Kanawha County, George W. Atkinson, 1876, p. 23-25