Uncle Nick Grindstaff's Grave
Along the Appalachian Trail in Shady Valley on Iron Mountain, the dividing line between Shady Valley and Stoney Creek, there is the chimney-shaped grave of Uncle Nick Grindstaff, a man who, as the tombstone says, "Lived alone, Suffered alone, and Died alone.”
Not much is known about Nick, and the information that is available is often conflicting. In the 1870s, he went out west to seek a fortune, in Missouri. On his way back to Johnson County, however, legend says that the age of 26, he was coaxed into the rear of a saloon by a lovely lady, whose partner in crime robbed him of his fortune. In another version of this story, he was not robbed, but drank all his money away when his wife out west died; when he became destitute he moved back to Johnson County. In either case, he returned to Shady Valley and bought land on top of Iron Mountain, were he lived for 45 years as a hermit with only his dog Panter, a steer and a pet rattlesnake (said to have been killed by a man named Sam Lowe) for company.
In 1923, a man went up to visit Nick and found him dead in bed in the shanty he lived in. Legend has it that Panter would not allow anyone to touch his body. One story says that the dog had watched over his body for days and had to be overpowered and tied up to a tree so that Nick’s relatives could bury his body. Yet another tale says that the dog had to be killed and was buried with him in the chimney-shaped grave made out of mountain granite, which even including some of Nick’s pots and pans in the construction. The house was eventually dismantled for the wood and tin, but the imprint is still on the ground surrounding the graveside, marking where this man lived and died.
Still, some hikers believe that in this place history is more alive than it is in most places. Tales have circulated that if someone camps at this site, they can hear a spectral dog howling late into the night. Perhaps Panter’s grief still hangs around the old homestead? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
DIRECTIONS: Go south on 91 in Shady Valley and go to Cross Mountain Road. There is a parking lot on the left. Park there and walk 3 miles on the Appalachian Trial.
