Since the original sparse settling of this rugged county,,

Since the original sparse settling of this rugged county,, the same “sweet thunder” of1 hounds and the same haunting low voice of, the cowhorn have been echoed off the mountainsides and floated through the valleys. “The Shade”, now -the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. Raymond Wire, has been, known as the “Cradle of the American Foxhounds". Though the exclusiveness of the statement can be challenged, the fact is that during the most disasterous years of the War Between the States, Col. Charles Green, owner of The l Shade, continued to sustain and ‘breed his pack, thus keeping alive the excellent proven bloodlines of his American Foxhounds. | Since the early 18th Century, Rappahannock County has been known outside of Virginia, in the States and in Europe, for its many keen hunting njen, the outstandingly high quality of its privately bibd hounds, such as the famous Bywater Hounds, and its challenging foxhunting terraine. In 1926, Joseph B. Johnson, MFH, of Sperryville, gave identity add personality to the Rappahannock Hunt Club pack. He used the Thomas hounds which he kenneled behind Henry Brown’s Store. The foxhunting of those days was exciting, spontaneous, and informal. From 1935 to 1946, Arthur Miller took over as Master of Foxhounds. For a time during his tenure of office, Oliver Durant,II, took responsi