Shenandoah Valley Panorama, 1923

In 1716, Virginia Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood led an expedition over the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley. The land was claimed for King George I of England, eventually being divided and distributed through land grants. Recipients of the grants were tasked with bringing immigrants from Europe to this area, and were encouraged to use the land for agriculture to stimulate the economy. After the expedition, Spotswood awarded the military officers horseshoe shaped gold stickpins with the inscription, Sic Juvat Transcendere Montes. Translated as "Thus it is pleasant to cross the mountains," it gave birth to the famed Knights of the Golden Horseshoe.

Many Europeans, especially Germans and Scots-Irish, were lured to the Shenandoah Valley region because of the plentiful farmland. The English were often deterred from moving to the valley since they were already settled on prosperous farmland in the Piedmont. As the Germans and Scots-Irish settled in the valley, small towns began to emerge that reflected their cultures. Farmers grew agricultural products for food, unlike the steady flow of tobacco from the eastern portions of the state. As a result of having good farmland, the crops were plentiful and farmers consistently had a surplus that were sold in markets throughout Virginia.

During the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the settlers in the Shenandoah Valley were constantly aware of the danger surrounding their homes. In 1758, forty-eight prisoners were captured from nearby Fort Valley and most were held captive for three years before returning home to their families.

This photograph was taken in 1923 from the observation tower on Massanutten Mountain. It shows Woodstock, the county seat of Shenandoah County, Virginia, and the Alleghany Mountains to the west.

Citation: Panorama of Shenandoah Valley, Waynesboro Public Library photograph collection, online at the Library of Virginia catalog.

VS.1, VS.2, VS.4, USI.1, USI.2, USI.4, USI.5, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3

Preview Activity

Look at the photograph and read the caption. If you were one of the “knights of the golden horseshoe” how would you describe the land? What purposes would you envision for how the land could be used? 

Post Activities

STEM STAT: Identify your region and list its attributes. How are those attributes similar or different to those of the Shenandoah Valley? How does geography impact land use for farming and immigration purposes?

Using Context Clues: Write a one-page diary entry detailing the journey to discover the Shenandoah Valley. Include at least three facts from your knowledge based on the image, context section, and other sources. 

Social Media Spin: Compose a post or tweet that one of the men on the journey could have written when seeing the Shenandoah Valley for the first time.