The Devils Den And How It Got It's Name

[War Horse]

I'm watching a History Channel Special titled "Haunted History" This episode is about Gettysburg. The show makes a very interesting claim I thought I would share with you.

How the Devils Den got it's name.

Apparently in the 1830's a group of boys were playing in and around the boulders when they came across a snake. This was a large black snake, the largest anyone had ever seen. The boys named the snake "The Devil" hence the large boulder formation became known as "The Devils Den".

Not at all what I expected, but interesting none the less.

I'd thought you might also find it interesting.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Wow - is that ever anti-climatic! Thank you for sharing - now I know.

 

[Hawkeye Brehm]

Yeah, that's the local legend...

 

[War Horse]

Wow - is that ever anti-climatic! Thank you for sharing - now I know.

Lol, I was ready for some great Native American story.

 

[E_just_E]

Lol, I was ready for some great Native American story.

There you go!.

Abstract from that article:

Abstract Gettysburg's legacy is a well-chronicled highlight of American history. However, its significance as a revered battleground overshadows a forgotten Iroquoian group (Susquehannock) that occupied the region. The battlefield contains a diabase outcrop known as Devil's Den that displays rounded blocks and weathered rectangular joints. Field reconnaissance identified a leaning rock slab that forms openings aligned to the summer and winter solstices. Moreover, the rock openings align with the rising and setting of Pleiades and Sirius, respectively, stellar objects tracked by northeastern Native Americans for agricultural and religious purposes. A petroglyph-bearing rock shadowed by the slab is the first known occurrence of petroglyphs in Adams County and only the 22nd documented case in Pennsylvania. Petroglyphs relating to select cardinal directions, Ursa major, and Manitou (Great Spirit manifestations) were situated for sunlight to interact with them during certain times of the year. The discovery of an Iroquoian calendar implies the region was utilised by a sedentary society

 

[FarawayFriend]

Not at all what I expected, but interesting none the less.

Same here! I always thought Devil's Den only got it's name after the Civil War after the terrible fighting there on Day 2!
Most interesting! Thanks for sharing!

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

They wasted a perfectly good name for a snake under a rock!

 

[Wallyfish]

Quick video from Garry Adelman on the subject. Garry and Tim Smith say the same thing in their Devil's Den book ( great read by the way).

 

[Hawkeye Brehm]

I guess what's surprising to me is that people didn't know that.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Nope - I too thought it was named that because of all the terrible fighting.

 

[Hawkeye Brehm]

Quick video from Garry Adelman on the subject. Garry and Tim Smith say the same thing in their Devil's Den book ( great read by the way).

I must be the only person who finds Garry Adelman incredibly obnoxious...

 

[War Horse]

There you go!.

Abstract from that article:

Abstract Gettysburg's legacy is a well-chronicled highlight of American history. However, its significance as a revered battleground overshadows a forgotten Iroquoian group (Susquehannock) that occupied the region. The battlefield contains a diabase outcrop known as Devil's Den that displays rounded blocks and weathered rectangular joints. Field reconnaissance identified a leaning rock slab that forms openings aligned to the summer and winter solstices. Moreover, the rock openings align with the rising and setting of Pleiades and Sirius, respectively, stellar objects tracked by northeastern Native Americans for agricultural and religious purposes. A petroglyph-bearing rock shadowed by the slab is the first known occurrence of petroglyphs in Adams County and only the 22nd documented case in Pennsylvania. Petroglyphs relating to select cardinal directions, Ursa major, and Manitou (Great Spirit manifestations) were situated for sunlight to interact with them during certain times of the year. The discovery of an Iroquoian calendar implies the region was utilised by a sedentary society

Is this suggesting the diabase outcrop was built by extraterrestrials?

I need to remember to look for your in-bedded links. I need to learn how to do that.

 

[War Horse]

I guess what's surprising to me is that people didn't know that.

You'd think as many times as I've been there, I would have learned this long ago.

 

[Hawkeye Brehm]

You'd think as many times as I've been there, I would have learned this long ago.

You'd think, yeah.

 

[War Horse]

Quick video from Garry Adelman on the subject. Garry and Tim Smith say the same thing in their Devil's Den book ( great read by the way).

Interesting. The program made no claim the snake ever harmed anyone, let alone eat little boys.

 

[Bee]

I need to remember to look for your in-bedded links. I need to learn how to do that.

Embedded link:

1. Highlight word that you want to embed the link with

2. Go to tool bar and click the 'paper clip' icon (after font selection)

3. Insert link when prompter appears

 

[FarawayFriend]

Is this suggesting the diabase outcrop was built by extraterrestrials

No, I guess it means it was a kind of prehistoric calendar, like Stonehenge, telling the people who lived there when it was time to bring out the seed or bring in the harvest. And it probably was hallowed ground also, as @diane has often told us.

Sorry if this is not at all what Gary Adelman said in the video @Wallyfish shared. I cannot watch the video right now....

 

[diane]

The Devil's Den and the area around it has always been spooked. Not surprised there's a big ol' snake lived there. Sacred places usually have protectors. It's an observatory. (And it wasn't made by ET!) There were mysterious things going on for centuries in the vicinity of Gettysburg, and before the whites came, too. It was like Chickamauga and Kentucky - powerful tribes would butt heads in that area. Boundaries always tend to be more or less bloody.

 

[JOHN42768]

Scary name turned into a legend of the horrors that were to come

 

[War Horse]

Embedded link:

1. Highlight word that you want to embed the link with

2. Go to tool bar and click the 'paper clip' icon (after font selection)

3. Insert link when prompter appears

Why thank you.