Bumgardner Bridge is on Highway 143 (Roan Road) right before entering the Burbank Community in Roan Mountain, Tennessee. As the story goes, sometime in the late 1800s, a sawmill boiler turned over on the operator and crushed him to death. When he was found, his leg had been severed. After that, this man’s spirit seems to have remained at the bridge and for a while enjoyed nothing more than to knock riders off of their horses and chase the horses off. Soon, however, the ghost started wanting a leg to replace the one he lost in life.
Shobe Ledford was returning home late one evening after riding with his uncle to the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad station in Roan Mountain. As soon as he got to the bridge, a white fog materialized in front of him. Shobe was well aware of what the mysterious vapor was and rode through it as quickly as possible. He didn’t stop until he got home, when he discovered his boot was missing and his big toe was sticking out of his holey sock.
“Uncle Peg” Singleton got his nickname because he lost one of his right legs and fashioned himself a wooden, peg leg. One night after church on Sugar Hollow Road, he was walking home with only a lantern to light his path. When he neared the bridge, the ghost grabbed his good leg. Uncle Peg started as running as fast as he could, and then stumbled. When he looked down, both his wooden leg and his lantern were gone, assumabely taken by the ghost. To this day, some hikers claim they have seen a mysterious, ghostly light bobbing in the laurels where Uncle Peg had his encounter. But, when they go to investigate, the light winks out. 1
Perhaps this legend got wove in with another mountain tale about the ghost who wants his big toe back, as the story of Shobe Ledford shows.
