COVER PHOTO NOTE

Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums march down the Duke of Gloucester Street. Also known as the Virginia State Garrison Regiment, the Fifes and Drums carry forward the tradition of military music. Duke of Gloucester Street is a mile-long street that stretches from the Colonial Capitol, at one end, to the Sir Christopher Wren building on the W&M Campus, at the other. Locals also affectionately know this street as ‘Dog Street’. Willi is wearing the distinctive tricorn hat that was typical of colonial dress.

#2 HISTORY NOTE – Powhatan Indian Village at Jamestown Settlement

Costumed interpreters explore the way of life in a re-created Indian village. Demonstrations show how the Indians grew and prepared food and made tools and pottery, and even processed animal hides.

#3A HISTORY NOTE – Jamestown Rediscovery Archaeological Project

Historic Jamestowne is the site of the first permanent English settlement in America. One hundred-five Englishmen set sail in 1606 from London to Virginia in search of precious metals and minerals, fur, etc., and also a water route to the Orient. Algonquian natives and Pocahontas met them in late April of 1607 – Pocahontas was the favored daughter of a paramount chief named Powhatan who was the leader of 32 groups of Algonguian-speaking tribes in tidewater Virginia. Painstaking excavations by Dr. Bill Kelso and his team of archeologists have uncovered thousands of artifacts as well as the remains of James Fort, which most people believe had washed into the James River. The archeologists are helping us learn about day-to-day life at Historic Jamestowne.

#3B HISTORY NOTE – Pocahontas

The story of Pocahontas is now legendary. She is credited with saving the life of Captain John Smith who was taken captive by her chieftain father. When the Captain was about to be clubbed to death, Pocahontas is said to have laid her body on top of him to protect him. The statue of Pocahontas on Jamestown Island commemorates this. Note how worn the hand has become from the thousands of visitors who have touched it over the years. Pocahontas means “Little-wanton,” or playful, frolicsome little girl.

#4A HISTORY NOTE – Jamestown Settlement and the three Ships

The Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery are re-creations of three ships that brought English colonists to Virginia in 1607 to establish the first permanent English colony. This was 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. They are one of the main attractions at Jamestown Settlement that tells the story of the people who founded Jamestown and also of the Powhatan Indians that they encountered there. The Susan Constant is the largest of the three ships. The Discovery is the smallest ship. It had been purchased to map and then explore the coastline in North America. Only about 50 feet long, it carried 21 people on the four-and-a-half month voyage from England.

#4B NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – ‘Marking Territory’

‘Marking territory’ is what dominant dogs do in the presence of other males. To show their dominance or one-upsmanship they lift a hind leg to urinate on a tree or a nearby bush.

#5 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Laughing Gull

The Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) is a coastal bird that is found from Nova Scotia to Venezuela. It is rarely found very far inland. It prefers nesting on barrier beaches and estuarine islands that have moderate vegetation. Laughing Gulls are noisy, aggressive, quarrelsome birds that often steal the prey of other birds. They even feed on the eggs and young of other birds, sometimes even of their own kind. It is a very social bird that migrates, hunts, and socializes with other Laughing Gulls. It is named for its distinctive call which sounds like “ha ha ha!” It mostly eats insects, fish, shellfish, and crabs. Even while airborne they can skim the surface of the water for food. They even dive into the water to get food although they prefer to steal from pelicans or terns after they have made a catch. People offer them food sources like garbage, sewage, and fish refuse from fishing boats, too. These gulls love the Surry Ferry because people often throw food to them as the boat makes its journey across the James River. Their antics are fun to watch!

#7a NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – The James River in Virginia

The James River in Virginia is 340 miles long and drains a 10,000 square mile watershed. It is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. It forms in the Allegheny Mountains near Iron Gate, Virginia from two rivers, the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers. The first permanent English settlement was founded in 1607 along the banks of the James. Navigation of the James played an important role in Virginia commerce and in the settlement of the interior. The Indians once knew the James River as the Powhatan River.

#7b NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – American Robin (Red-breasted Robin)

The American Robin is a sure sign of spring! They are a common sight in the U.S. from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Robins prefer woodland edges and open ground on which to forage for food. Gardens next to woodlands and groves with small trees are ideal for them. In the winter, berry bushes are very attractive to them. They eat earthworms and many insects like caterpillars, termites, grasshoppers, and beetle grubs, along with fleshy fruits and berries like bayberry, elderberry, grape, pyracantha, crab apples, and hollies. They make their nest in the fork of a tree or shrub but they are just as likely to nest in windowsills, downspouts, doors, and even light fixtures! Robins migrate progressively south with the onset of winter. They are best known for their early morning songs that begin well before sunrise.

#8 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – The Colonial Parkway

The Colonial Parkway is a 23-mile route between Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, an area locally that is known as the Historic Triangle. The Parkway encompasses wetlands, miles of stream and river shoreline, forests and fields, as well as many species of animals and flowering plants. Much of the Colonial National Historical Park, which includes the Parkway, extends along either the James or the York Rivers. These two large rivers range along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The Parkway is enjoyed year-round by people: walking, bicycling, birding, fishing and doing photography; or just simply taking a leisurely drive to see the beautiful scenery. The roadway has three lanes, the middle one of which is only a passing lane.

#10a HISTORY NOTE – Lord Botetourt, A Very handsome Figure Indeed

For almost two centuries, Lord Botetourt has graced the courtyard of the Sir Christopher Wren Building. The man, Botetourt, was a popular royal governor of Virginia for two years. And, despite his short tenure in that role, he was a loyal friend and patron of the College. Upon his death he was honored with an elaborate funeral and buried in the crypt under the chapel of the Wren Building. The original statue was eventually placed for safekeeping in the Botetourt Gallery of the College’s Swem Library (which you can visit; finally, in 1993, a new statue of Lord Botetourt was created in bronze by W&M alumnus, Gordon Kray. Lord Botetourt oversees life at William and Mary.

#10b HISTORY NOTE – The History of the Christopher Wren Building

The Wren Building is the oldest college building in the United States and the oldest of the restored public buildings in Williamsburg. It was constructed between 1695 and 1699, before the City was founded and while the capital of the Virginia colony was still located at Jamestown. King William III and Queen Mary II of England chartered the College in 1693.

Did you know that four U.S. Presidents have benefited from educational programs offered by the College? They are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. Because of a close official relationship between the College and the Church of England, students began and ended every day with services in the Wren Chapel. Other distinguished Virginians are buried in the chapel crypt besides our friend, Lord Botetourt, including Sir John Randolph, his sons John ‘the Tory’ and Peyton, and Bishop James Madison. The charter of the College named the Reverend James Blair as its first president.

Fire has gutted the building three times – in 1705, 1859, and 1862 – and each time it has been rebuilt using the original exterior walls. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. restored it to its colonial appearance in 1928-31.

#10c HISTORY NOTE – Definition of ‘Alma Mater’

[n] your alma mater is a school you graduated from; a college where one is educated.

#11 HISTORY NOTE – Thomas Jefferson at William & Mary

Thomas Jefferson first stepped into this building himself at the age of sixteen when he enrolled in the College in 1760. By that age Jefferson was already a scholar and able to read Greek and Latin authors in the original text. He frequently studied fifteen hours a day. William Small, who introduced the young scholar to the writings of Locke, Bacon, and Newton, taught Jefferson. He also awakened an interest in science in him. It was a turbulent time in the history of the College but you would not know it looking at it today. William and Mary’s students and faculty left the college when the Revolution began. Jefferson and the College both survived

and endured in history as you know. There are some nice traditions associated with students and the Wren Building. Freshmen walk through the building at opening convocation as a ceremonial way of starting their course of study. And seniors walk through on their way to commencement. “Bernard,” by the way, is Bernard Bowman, one of the Wren Building’s greatest assets. He came to the Wren Building in 1985 when he retired from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation after 25 years of service. Bernard is the well-loved ‘keeper of the keys.”

#12 HISTORY NOTE – The Wren Chapel

The Wren chapel continues to be used for student worship services, as well as for recitals, induction ceremonies, alumni weddings and funerals. The design of the chapel is similar to that of many collegiate chapels in Great Britain. The paneling is of native pine and walnut. The royal arms of Kings George I and II are displayed on the front of the gallery to serve as a reminder of the close connection between Church and State during the College’s early years. The interior dimensions of the chapel are approximately 24 feet wide x 58 feet, 8 inches long. The arrangement of the pews facing the aisle instead of the altar is called antiphonal seating. It derives from an early Christian tradition in which a congregation was divided into two groups for singing the psalms, each side taking a verse in turn.

#13 HISTORY NOTE – Wren Circular Windows

The circular windows in the Wren Chapel are part of the original colonial design of the building. This type of window is called a “Bull’s-eye” window.

#14 HISTORY NOTE – The Wren Building, an Academic Building at W&M

In 1906 the College of William and Mary became a state institution, and in 1918 it admitted women for the first time. As this famous building enters its fourth century, it is still used as an academic building, housing faculty offices on the third floor and classrooms throughout the building.

#15 HISTORY NOTE – The Crim Dell

The Crim Dell Bridge was a gift to W&M from the Class of 1964. A Sweetbay variety of Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana australi) grows in Crim Dell Meadow, and several beautiful Southern Magnolias can be found around the pond. Crim Dell Meadow provides a natural setting for a sculpture entitled ‘Spring’, which is of two students studying (can you find it?) Perhaps most famous tree of all, though, is a Beech (Fagus grandifolia) that stands near the pond and carries years of carvings. The legend of the Crim Dell has many slight variations but what is accepted by everyone is the following: No one is to walk the Crim Dell alone or else that means they will never be married. If you walk across with your special someone and kiss on the bridge, it means you are destined to marry that individual. The only way to avoid marrying that person is to then bring them back to the bridge and throw them off!

#16 HISTORY NOTE – A Half-Marathon

A half-marathon is a race over half the distance of a marathon, i.e. about 21.1 kilometers. It is usually run on roads. 21.1 km equals 13.1 miles or 804.5 meters.

#17 HISTORY NOTE – ‘Confusion Corner’

This is the name given by locals to the intersection where Jamestown Road and Richmond Road meet in front of the Christopher Wren Building. The Duke of Gloucester Street begins its one-mile span to the Colonial Capitol at this intersection, as well. Jamestown Road traffic has the right-of-way here but there is no traffic light and otherwise poor signs, so visitors to the area are often royally confused by it all!

#18a HISTORY NOTE – The Adams Garden

The Adams Garden was dedicated in 1986 to the memory of Gregory S. Adams, a member of William and Mary’s class of 1981. This delightful garden, located at the corner of North Boundary Street and Richmond Road, is directly across from the President’s House on Richmond Road and has become a popular spot for outdoor lunches and study breaks. Local and international visitors plan regular visits throughout the year to enjoy what is in flower. The garden has grown and matured through the volunteer efforts of Madelynn Watkinson (center figure in the photograph) who has worked so hard to create this quiet spot of beauty.

#18b HISTORY NOTE – The Little Prince

See all 27 chapters of the book online by its author Antoine De Saint-Exupery (1900-1944) at:http://www.angelfire.com/hi/littleprince/frames.html

#19 HISTORY NOTE – Williamsburg Transportation Center (Train Station)

The Williamsburg Transportation Center was purchased by the City of Williamsburg in 2000 from Colonial Williamsburg. The challenge was to develop a pedestrian-friendly site plan that would support multi-modal transportation services for the public. It is located within an architectural preservation district that includes significant structures, landscapes, and archaeological sites dating from the colonial era through the 1940’s. It is a lovely sight on almost any night.

#20 HISTORY NOTE – “I’m nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson

Explanatory reference about the poem: http://www.beyondbooks.com/lit71/1f.asp

Colonial Williamsburg is known for its green spaces and wonderful gardens, as well as it’s fenced pastures and big shade trees. But this was not always so. A 1777 account of the view from the Cupola of the College of William and Mary’s Wren building notes that both the York River and the James River were visible from that vantage point, at least at that time.

#22 HISTORY NOTE – The United States Air Force Heritage of America Band

The USAF Heritage of America Band is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, and supports Air Force community relations, patriotism, and recruiting programs through live performances. In June 1946, after a short stay at Brooks Field, Texas, the band arrived at Langley Field, its current home. The band has earned international acclaim and many honors. Every summer it puts on SUMMER BREEZE concerts in Merchant’s Square, which is on Duke of Gloucester Street in downtown Williamsburg.

#26 HISTORY NOTE – Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums

Fifers and drummers were an important part of the eighteenth century army. They worked with the soldiers in the field even though they were only boys themselves (no girls in the Corps back then!) They aged from ten to eighteen. Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums, also known as the Field Music of the Virginia State Garrison Regiment, carries forward this tradition of military music. Since 1958 the Corps has treated visitors to military performances dating back to America’s Revolution. Today, members of the Corps are boys and girls ages ten to eighteen. They start their musical training at the age of ten and for the next eight years they perform more than seven hundred times a year! Members graduate from the Corps the summer after their senior year in high school.

#29 HISTORY NOTE – Bruton Parish Church and Churchyard

Bruton Parish was established in 1674 and drew communicants from territory that extended from College Creek to Skimino Creek. The remains of the first Burton Parish Church, finished in 1683, are located within the graveyard enveloping the present structure. Bruton’s most famous service was held on June 1, 1774, when legislators marked the closing of the port of Boston during a day of ‘Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer.’

The church served as a storehouse, or perhaps even a hospital, during the Battle of Yorktown. The church’s High Box Pews, with doors, are designed for warmth in an unheated church. They are typical of 18th century English churches. The Baptismal Font was brought from the Jamestown Tower Church around 1758. George Washington stood as godfather on fourteen occasions before this font.

Among the men of the Revolution who attended Bruton Parish Church were Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, George Wythe, Patrick Henry, and George Mason. One the notables buried inside the church is Governor Francis Fauquier, a colonial governor, who died in 1768. The first minister of Bruton Parish, the Rev. Roland Jones, was buried in the churchyard in 1688. Inside the church, forty-two graves were identified during the 1905-07 restoration – stones in the floor mark the more prominent graves. Many eighteenth-century gravestones may be found in the churchyard. However, because all the early stones had to be imported from England, many of the graves in the churchyard are unmarked. It should be noted also that colonial Virginia churchyards were not the first choice for burial. The custom at the time was to bury the dead at home.

#30a HISTORY NOTE – Sally Lund’s Bread

Sally Lund’s bread dates back to 1650’s, a time when there were no cookbooks, no microwaves, not even refrigerators! – which meant that meals were prepared over the flames in a fireplace. Sally Lund’s biscuits are baked in a Dutch oven. Right after baking they are split horizontally and the surface is spread with melted butter, then the top is replaced and they are served warm. Legend has it that Sally Lund, whose real name was Solange Luyon, was a pastry cook in Bath, England where she made and sold these buns in the streets for over thirty years. Sally Lund’s Buns were later a huge success in Colonial America; others tried hard to copy them but her skill with the rich and delicate dough inspired customers to request the Sally Lund buns. Have you tried them?

#30a HISTORY NOTE – Colonial Williamsburg Harpsichordist

James S. Darling is a beloved organist and choir director at Bruton Parish Episcopal Church.

#31 HISTORY NOTE – CW Carriages and Horses

The wheels of the carriages, wagons, and riding chairs that navigated rugged colonial roads had to be built strong and round. Colonial wheelwrights start with a hub fashioned on a lathe from aged wood such as elm. The wheelwright then uses a chisel to make rectangular spoke holes around the circumference of the wheel. Ash is used for the spokes that eventually join to form a perfect circle. American Creams and Canadian horses pull wagons and carriages throughout the Historic Area. The only modern breed in Colonial Williamsburg’s rare breeds program is also the rarest: less than 200 American Creams still exist in North America. Canadian horses, the Foundation’s most recent addition to the rare breeds program, are primarily black or reddish brown. They are energetic and calm and adaptable to Williamsburg’s busy tourist environment.

#35 HISTORY NOTE – Williamsburg Gate Closer Ball with Chain

In 1936 Colonial Williamsburg began an innovative program to bring high quality reproductions of antiques in its collections to the public. The “Williamsburg 4XX Restoration” hallmark is found on those items that have been approved by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as meeting their exacting standards for authentic reproductions or adaptations of them. One of these is the Williamsburg gate closer ball with chain. This historically correct gate closer is made of cast iron and is 3 1/2 inches in diameter. It comes with 60 inches of chain.

All you need to do is dig your own post hole.

#36 HISTORY NOTE – The Public Stocks at the Courthouse

The Courthouse was the scene of criminal proceedings ranging from wife beating, pig stealing, debtor and creditor disputes, treason, arson, blasphemy, witchcraft, cheating, and public drunkenness, and more. Punishment in Colonial America was quick; the whipping post and the Public Stocks stood just outside the Courthouse, a few steps from the prisoner’s dock.

In the public stocks, the subject cannot hide his or her face from bystanders. This is part of the public embarrassment aspect of this kind of punishment. Sometimes people threw food and other objects at the offender, as well. Often, though, the stocks were just part of a package of punishments. Branding and maiming, for example, may shock us today but they were a quite common back then. The “stretch-neck,” stood in the main squares of towns up and down the colonies! An upright board, hinged or divided in half with a hole in which the head was set and fastened, usually also had two openings for the hands. In some cases the ears of the subject were also nailed to the wood on either side of the head hole.

#37a HISTORY NOTE – The Courthouse

The Courthouse was central to colonial life in Williamsburg. It is located at the very center of the city on Market Square and actively served the community for more than 160 years. Business was interrupted briefly by the Civil War when it was used as a hospital after the Battle of Williamsburg. Today it is used as a forum for the interpretation of the Colonial legal system and its impact on the lives of ordinary

citizens. Visitors participate in mock trials that are based on cases taken from historical records. The Courthouse is where citizens gathered on May 1, 1783, to celebrate the end of the war with England – just as they had seven years earlier when the Declaration of Independence was declared on its steps.

#37b HISTORY NOTE – The Magazine

The spark that ignited the Revolution in Virginia was struck at the Magazine, which is where the colony stored its gunpowder. On the night of April 20, 1775, royal marines, under the direction of English Governor Dunmore, stole toward the capital to empty the arsenal and disable the muskets that were stored there. But they were caught in the act and immediately alerts were given by drums to wake the citizens of Williamsburg. Word of Lexington and Concord reached Williamsburg just a few days later and within a week Patrick Henry along with a 150 militiamen were threatening the capitol from a military encampment west of the city. The headlines in the Gazette read: “The Sword is drawn and God knows when it will be sheathed.” British rule in Virginia ended on June 8th of that year when Dunmore fled with his men to the H.M.S. Fowey that was anchored in the York.

#39 HISTORY NOTE– The Public Hospital (Eastern Lunatic Asylum)

The Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds was the first building in North America devoted to the treatment of the mentally ill. It opened its doors in 1773 as a place to put people who “are so unhappy as to be deprived of their reason.” Then Governor Francis Fauquier believed that science could be used to cure them. The idea of the hospital was to restore these poor souls to their lost reason. There were 24 secure isolation cells in all. The cells had barred windows, a mattress on the floor, a chamber pot, and an iron ring in the wall to which the person’s wrist or leg chains were attached. It was thought at that time that mental illnesses were diseases of the brain and the nervous system, which is not that far off from what it is thought of today by many mental health professionals! Treatments back then consisted of restraint, drugs, plunge baths, bleeding, blistering salves and other rather inhumane things. For patients in a ‘state of raving phrenzy’ there were two additional dungeon-like cells under the first floor of the hospital.

#40 HISTORY NOTE – The Williamsburg Inn

The Williamsburg Inn is often called the ‘crown jewel’ of Colonial Williamsburg Hotels. It has hosted many heads-of-state over the years including many U.S. Presidents. For many visitors, the Inn is a destination in itself for gourmet dining, tennis courts, world-class golf, a fitness club with spa, afternoon tea by the fire, lawn bowling – all in an atmosphere of sheer elegance. The Inn’s dinner menu offers a selection of fine wines and favorites such as tomato-rosemary ravioli with smoked duck confit, sweet lobster bisque and roasted domestic lamb loin and oxtail rillettes; as well as classics such as Chateaubriand, the Williamsburg Inn crab cake, and its Hazelnut Ice Cream Cake with Strawberries. The famous facade of the Williamsburg Inn hotel has not changed even though inside the renovations have spanned three centuries, the most recent of which was completed in 2001.

#41 HISTORY NOTE – American Red Devon Cattle

The 1868 American Devon Herd Book, Vol. 2, contained this description of Devon Cattle: “The late experience of the breeders of Devons only confirms their former opinion of the excellent qualities of the breed, for the three grand objects for which neat stock are kept, namely, milk, work, or beef, and their adaptation to many sections of our country, in preference to any other breed; also that they will produce as much milk, work, or beef, from the food consumed, or on a given quantity of land, as any other breed...The only objection ever presented to the breed, is “they are small;” but we can keep more of them, and that on shorter pastures and coarser food.” Cattle from Devonshire had long been recognized in England for their speed, intelligence, strength, willingness to work, as well as their ability to prosper on coarse grasses. The breed is red in color, varying in shade from a deep rich red to light red or chestnut color. They may show white on the tailswitch, udder or scrotum. They have medium-sized curving horns that are light colored with dark tips. American Red Devon are bred at Colonial Williamsburg.

#42 HISTORY NOTE – Leicester Longwool Sheep

Leicester Longwool Sheep have a long, lustrous coat which falls in ringlets. Leicester (pronounced “lester”) Longwools originated in Britain. They were used in America, Australia, New Zealand and other colonies settled by the Crown. The original herd of Colonial Williamsburg’s Leicester Longwool sheep came from Tasmania but the sheep are now bred here. The breed was developed in the 1700’s by Robert Bakewell who was the first to utilize modern animal breeding techniques in the selection of livestock. His work with these sheep not only changed live stock farming, it also influenced the work of Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel. George Washington was so interested in Bakewell’s ideas that he made reference to him in several letters; thus the Leicester Longwool were well-known in the colonies. Colonial Williamsburg’s Leicester sheep project was suddenly promoted because of an unexpected tragedy. For some unknown reason, someone brutally killed Willoughby in 1988, their only Leicester ram lamb. From the expressions of sorrow that came in from all over the world in the wake of his death, Colonial Williamsburg was able to purchase more Leicester Longwool sheep. However, this breed is critically endangered and today there are fewer than 200 of them in North America.

#43 HISTORY NOTE – Tricorn Hat

What is the origin of the tricorn hat? Does it have a functional purpose or was it just a fashion? The answer is yes! One side of the brim was folded up so that when you shouldered your musket you didn’t knock off your hat. It sort of evened up the look of the hat to also fold up the other side, although not all colonists bothered to do that. The pointed front of the hat provided a little aerodynamic support for the milita men riding horses; in other words, the hat didn’t blow off so easily while riding!

#44 HISTORY NOTE – Shields Tavern

Food played an important part in the social life of the community back in Jefferson’s day. Dinners were long, conversations lasted well into the night, and the taverns of Williamsburg provided the food and drink and the political atmosphere that inspired the Revolution! Shields Tavern is a wonderful place to participate in that 18th-century world: authentic colonial dishes have been adjusted for the modern commercial kitchen (no easy task) while still retaining the original texture and flavor of the translated recipes. The ‘Shields Sampler’ is a sampling of five or six of these recipes on one plate, not to be missed!

#45 HISTORY NOTE – King’s Arm Tavern

The King’s Arm Tavern catered to Virginia gentry and the politically influential around the time of the Revolutionary war. What kinds of things can you eat at King’s Arms? Well, not peanut butter sandwiches probably, but you can order roast prime rib of beef, lamb, peanut soup, Brunswick stew, honey and cider-cured Smithfield pork porterhouse,  Williamsburg pecan pie – and more.

#46 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Eastern Gray Squirrel

Squirrels are a diverse group of rodents that are found in most parts of the world except Australia, southern South America, and in some desert areas. There are three basic types of squirrels: tree squirrels, flying squirrels, and ground squirrels. The Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) – a tree squirrel – is found in Williamsburg and ranges over the eastern United States to just west of the Mississippi and as far north as Canada. It eats mainly nuts, flowers and the buds of many species of oaks, hickory, pecan, walnut and beech trees. Crops, such as corn and wheat, are eaten, especially in the winter. Its diet may also include bones, bird eggs and nestlings, and frogs. They bury food in winter caches using a method called ‘scatter hoarding’ and locate these caches using both memory and smell. Their maximum longevity is 12.5 years in the wild. Eastern grey squirrels are preyed on by many predators, especially birds of prey. They give warning calls to warn neighboring squirrels of the presence of predators and their extreme agility in the trees makes them difficult to capture. These squirrels provided food for Native Americans and colonists and are still eaten by some people today. Squirrels, though, are ranked second only to birds in value to nature watchers.

#47 HISTORY NOTE – Robertson’s Windmill

Reconstructed on its original site, William Robertson’s tall, linen-sailed windmill is the center piece for Colonial Williamsburg’s Windmill, Cooper, and Rural Trades site. Costumed barrel makers and sawyers work nearby while farmers tend rows of 18th-century corn, tobacco, and wheat. This particular mill is a post mill, a design that appeared in Europe in the Middle Ages. Its superstructure balances on a large single post that was turned into the wind by a man at the tailpole called a miller. For centuries, the winds moved ships and people and cargo and even the millstones that ground corn into grain.

#48 HISTORY NOTE – The Capitol

Built between 1701 and 1705, the first Williamsburg capitol served the colony of Virginia until fire destroyed it in 1747. The second Capitol at Williamsburg was built between 1751 and 1753 on the foundations of the first. It was last used as a capitol on December 24, 1779 when the General Assembly adjourned to reconvene in May at the new capital in Richmond. In 1928 Colonial Williamsburg reconstructed the original Capitol; and since then Virginia legislators have convened for a day every other year in honor of the original general assembly of the colony of Virginia. It was in the Capitol that Patrick Henry delivered his Caesar-Brutus speech against the Stamp Act on May 29, 1765.

And Henry, George Washington, George Mason, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, and Thomas Jefferson were major players in legislative battles there that ended in revolution.

#50 HISTORY NOTE – St. George Tucker House

The rambling residence on Palace Green known as the St. George Tucker House is one of the more interesting and appealing houses in Williamsburg. It was enlarged several times after 1788, partly to accommodate Tucker’s children. His two wives brought a total of five stepchildren with their marriages. In addition, his first wife bore him six of children his own and the second three! Tucker came to Virginia from Bermuda at the age of 19 to pursue an education in law at the College of William and Mary. He enrolled at the College for six months and read law under George Wythe, who had been a teacher of Thomas Jefferson. Tucker graduated from William and Mary in 1772. He enjoyed a long and prosperous life as a judge and as a law professor at William and Mary. The Tucker family produced a long line of jurists and scholars.

#51a HISTORY NOTE – The George Wythe House on Palace Green

The George Wythe House is the residence of the Virginian whose name appears first among the state’s signers of the Declaration of Independence. In 1775 Wythe was elected to attend the Continental Congress. He served for two years, voted in favor of the Resolution, and for the Declaration. But a year later he was called back to Virginia in order to help form the new government. In 1779 Thomas Jefferson and others of the College of William and Mary created the first chair of law in a U.S. institution of higher learning and appointed Wythe to fill it. Wythe’s first love was teaching and it was probably his most valuable contribution to the new nation.

#51b HISTORY NOTE – Palace Green

Palace green was designed to focus the eye on the Governor’s Palace. It was also intended to provide the Governor with an unimpeded view of the heart of the Williamsburg community. It was, as well, a location for various community celebrations, not unlike the Grand Illumination today which draws thousands of visitors to the Palace Green for its annual Christmas fireworks.

#52 HISTORY NOTE – The Governor’s Palace

The Governor’s Palace, built in 1722, is one of three great public buildings in Williamsburg, after the Wren Building and the Capitol. It was the home for Virginia’s chief executive in the capital of England’s largest American colony. At first it was called the Governor’s House but in 1714 it was changed to ‘Palace.’ The house required 25 servants as well as slaves who tended to the property. There were butlers, cooks, footmen, laundresses, gardeners, maids, grooms, and laborers. Governor Thomas Jefferson once lived there. On December 22, 1781 a fire destroyed the building. Artifacts unearthed in the ruins, Jefferson’s drawings, General Assembly records, and a copperplate engraving discovered in the Bodleian Library in England were employed in the 1934 reconstruction of the original buildings.

#54a NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

Cottontail rabbits are commonly seen in the Historical Triangle and are great favorites of children. In the United States they range from the east to the Great Plains in the west. Long ears, big eyes, and speedy getaways are attributes that very often save them in encounters with predators such as hawks, owls, snakes, and foxes. The Cottontail breeds from February to September and produces from 1 to 12 offspring every thirty days or so! A cottontail is sexually mature at around two months of age. They are short-lived, though; most do not survive beyond their third year. Eastern cottontails have excellent vision and hearing and they have a good sense of smell. They emit cries of worry (to startle an enemy or warn others of danger), squeals (during mating), and grunts (if predators approach a nesting female). The eastern cottontail is a vegetarian.

#54b NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Eastern Bluebird

The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis ) arrives in the Historic Triangle in early spring. It is found east of the Rocky Mountains, spanning from southern Canada to the Gulf states and even into Mexico and as far south as Honduras. Many years ago bluebirds were plentiful but they nearly ceased to exist in the face of starlings that took over nesting places, and pesticides that were introduced to kill insects that bluebirds fed on. Today they are making a good comeback thanks to bird lovers and conservationists who have been instrumental in the widespread posting of man-made birdhouses for them. You, too, can do that!

The male bluebird is sky-blue in color with a breast the color of a ripe orange. The female is more subdued in color. Bluebirds prefer open land with scattered trees for perching, nesting, and feeding. They are often seen, thus, in parks and gardens and in other areas that provide perching areas such as fences and utility wires. They are a very social species. The Bluebird’s future is still of great concern to conservationists. The number of individuals has drastically dropped in past years (in some places by as much as 90%). Recent rises in numbers have been encouraging but habitat destruction and competition for the house sparrow and from the European starling is intense.

#55 HISTORY NOTE – The Colonial Parkway

The Colonial Parkway is a 23-mile link between Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. A tunnel was built through Williamsburg as a result of Colonial Williamsburg officials voicing objection to a modern parkway intruding upon the ambience of the historic capitol. In the end a tunnel seemed to be the most cost-effective way to bypass Williamsburg. A 30-foot wide reinforced concrete tunnel was constructed, and earth was then placed over the structure and landscaped.

The tunnel opened for traffic in 1949 and continues to be a major thoroughfare through Williamsburg to Jamestown and Yorktown on either side.

#56 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – The Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and is an incredibly complex ecosystem. In it, salt and fresh water mix. Its watershed includes parts of six states (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, as well as all of the District of Columbia. It is almost 200 miles long and up to 35 miles wide near the mouth of the Potomac River. Much of its 18 trillion gallons of water come from the Atlantic Ocean and 150 major rivers and streams in its drainage basin. into. Even so, its average depth is only about 21 feet! In fact, a six-foot tall person could wade through about 700,000 acres of the Bay and never get his or her hat wet! Even the smallest of creatures play a vital role in the overall health of the Bay which supports more than 3,600 species of plants and fish and animals, including 29 species of waterfowl. The Bay is a major resting ground along the Atlantic Migratory Bird Flyway. Everything we humans do on the land surrounding the Bay – including the use of fertilizers, pesticides, toilets, cars, water and electricity – affects the health of the Bay and its many tributaries.

#58 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Ducks, Swans and Geese (Family Anatidae)

Ducks are distributed worldwide, except for the Antarctic region. They commonly inhabit aquatic habitats such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers and marshes. They are herbivorous, meaning they eat the seeds, roots, stems, leaves and flowers of aquatic vegetation. Some feed on plankton or algae. Other food items include: mollusks, aquatic insects, crustaceans and small fish. Mammalian redators of anatids include: humans, red fox, striped skunk , raccoon (Procyon lotor), badger (Taxidea taxus), coyote (Canis latrans), weasels and minks. Avian predators include: American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica), skuas(Catharacta), and owls. Anatids are known for their flock formations, which may serve to provide predator protection. They spend copious amounts of time in the water and spend a great deal of time on preening and feather maintenance. They use their bills to coat (and waterproof) their feathers with oil from the uropygial gland. Anatids often form small groups to roost either on the water or on land. When on the water, a sleeping bird will tuck its bill under its wing; on land birds may stand on one leg. Anatids are socially active while feeding, roosting, and migrating. In general, their vocalizations are varied and include: trumpeting, whistles, twitters, honks, barks, grunts, quacks, croaks and growls.

#59 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Barred Owl

The Barred owl (Strix varia) is medium-sized and grey-brown in color, and is streaked with white horizontal barring on the chest and vertical barring on the belly. They are round-headed with a whitish/brown facial disk with dark brown trim. The beak is yellow. This is a highly vocal owl that sounds a resounding “hoo, hoo, too-HOO; hoo, hoo, too-HOO, ooo.” The calls are often heard in a series of eight, followed by silence when the owl is listening for a reply from other owls. Meadow voles are the Barred owl’s main prey, followed by shrews and deer mice. Other common food sources, however, are rats, squirrels, young rabbits, bats, moles, opossums, mink, and weasels, and even things like small fish, turtles, frogs, snakes, lizards, scorpions, beetles, crickets and grasshoppers. Even birds are occasionally taken. Although Barred owls prefer to nest in tree cavities, this species is also known to use empty hawk nests, crow’s nests, or even squirrel nests. Their reliance on large tree cavities means that populations of barred owls are dependent on the presence of old growth forests throughout much of their range. Pairs mate for life and their territories and nest sites are maintained for many years.

#60a NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Raccoon (Procyon lotor)

The Algonquin Indians called the Raccoon “arakunem” – meaning “he who scratches with his hands.” The raccoon uses its front feet to open clams or other shellfish, and then he washes his food before eating. In fact, their Latin name, lotor, means ‘the washer.’ Raccoons are extremely adaptable animals. While woodlands near water are their preferred habitat, they are also commonly found in more urban areas. The primary causes of death, as a result, are humans (hunting, trapping, cars) and malnutrition. Most of the raccoon’s other natural predators are no longer found in their range.

#60b NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – White-tailed Deer

The White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is the most popular game animal in the commonwealth of Virginia. White-tails browse twigs or leaves of young trees and cultivated crops like corn, rye, and wheat. Their deal habitat contains dense thickets (in which to hide and move about) and forest edges (which furnish food). They breed once yearly. When looking for food, females leave their offspring in a hiding place for about four hours at a time. The fawns, while waiting for the return of the mother, lay flat on the ground with their necks outstretched and well-camouflaged on the forest floor. People mistakenly think that a lone fawn has been abandoned when it hasn’t been abandoned at all. So don’t touch! The fawn’s mother will most likely be back!

#60c NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Red Fox

The Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is found all over North America. They thrive in a wide range of habitats including forest, tundra, prairie and farmland. Their preferred habitats have a diversity of vegetation. Its breeding season is December through March. Red fox males and females cooperate to care for the pups who remain with their parents at least until the fall of the year they were born in, and will sometimes remain longer, especially females. Red foxes are solitary animals and do not form packs like wolves.

They mostly eat rodents, rabits, insects, fruit, and also carrion. Foxes help to control populations of their prey animals and they help disperse seeds by eating fruit. Foxes can transmit the disease of rabies to humans, so look but do not touch!

#60d HISTORY NOTE – Brunswick Stew

[n] spicy Southern specialty: chicken (or other small game such as squirrel) with corn and tomatoes and lima beans and okra and onions and potatoes. This dish was often made when times were lean.

#63 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Yorktown Onion

In the U.S. the Yorktown Onion is native only to York County, Virginia. It was found originally in south Russia and from there it was introduced into England in the sixteenth century. It probably came to this country accidentally, either as seeds or in supplies sent with the early colonists from the mother country. They are plentiful in one spot along the Colonial Parkway near Yorktown. When you see the fields of purple blooms you know that Yorktown is just a hop, skip and a jump away! But please do not pick the Yorktown Onions, as they are a protected species.

#65 NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – The Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is our national bird and the only eagle unique to North America. It flourishes along the northwest coast of North America in part because of the salmon but it is currently designated as ‘Threatened” in the lower 48 states. When America adopted the bird as its national symbol in 1782, more than 100,000 nesting bald eagles lived in the continental United States. The later decline of the Bald Eagle coincided with (1) over-hunting; (2) habitat destruction by loggers and farmers; and (3) the widespread use of the pesticide DDT.

DDT-contaminated Eagles either fail to lay eggs or their eggs have thin shells that tend to break during incubation. Once DDT was banned in the United States (in 1972), the Eagle started its come back. Then in 1973 Congress created the Endangered Species Act and the Eagle was one of the first species to be given protection under that act. Today its numbers have risen to an estimated 12,000 in the lower 48 states. But it’s future is still far from secure. We have to be constantly vigilant if it is going to survive.

The bald eagle is a large, powerful, brown bird with a white head and tail. The word ‘bald’ once meant ‘white,’ not ‘hairless.’ Females can weigh up to 14 pounds with a wingspan up to 8 ft. The males are smaller. They mate for life and build huge nests in the tops of trees near water. These nests can reach 20 feet across and weigh as much as two tons! Each year the mating pair adds onto the nest. The female lays two eggs, usually in December of each year. Eagles eat fish, water birds and turtles, as well as rabbits and rodents. When hunting, the Bald Eagle seeks its prey from a perch or from high in the sky, then swoops down and snatches up the prey in its talons. Another method used by bald eagles to gain food is to steal it from other birds!

#66a NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Woodchuck

The Woodchuck (Marmota monax) is better known as a groundhog. It has a stocky body with a pudgy face and a large nose and black tail. Its feet are black and slightly flattened with curved claws for digging. Its ears are small, low and rounded and its eyes are little. The woodchuck is actually a member of the squirrel family. Woodchucks like rolling farmland, woodlots, and brushy fence lines, even grassy lawns. They especially prefer forest edges where they are never far from cover. They are often seen along the grassy edge of the Colonial Parkway. They are a very solitary little rodent except during mating which begins in their second year.

When alarmed they give a loud, shrill whistle. Because of its relatively large size, its main predators include red foxes and humans although some are taken by bears, weasels and even rattlesnakes. Many woodchucks are killed by automobiles. They feed primarily on grasses, clover, alfalfa, wheat, corn, soybeans, and berries. Gardeners and farmers consider woodchucks to be great pests and go to great lengths to get rid of them, including shooting them. You’ll often see them sitting on their haunches pulling plants over with their forepaws. Their burrows are extensive. Horses have been known to break their legs when stumbling into these burrows that can also destroy building foundations.

Woodchucks are true hibernators. They hibernate from late October until March or April in one of the underground corridors of its burrow, relying solely on body fat for winter survival. While hibernating it rolls itself into a ball and tucks its head between its hind legs. You’ve heard about Ground Hog’s Day, right? The legend is that when the woodchuck rises from hibernation on February 2nd and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter.

#66b NATURAL HISTORY NOTE – Opossum

The opossum (Didelphus virginianus) is about the size of a cat (it weighs from 4 - 14 pounds) and has rough grayish-black fur. It also has a white face, a pink nose, and a long hairless, pink tail. And fifty teeth! Not only that, but they have opposable thumbs like humans and they use their tail like another hand to hold onto branches. The opossum is the only marsupial (pouch animal) in the United States. Thirteen days after the female becomes pregnant, six to sixteen tiny babies are born. They crawl to her fur-lined pouch and find one of 13 nipples to suck on. They stay in the pouch for 2 months until they have hair. At that point they crawl out of the pouch and ride around on the mother’s back for another several weeks.

This animal is well known for ‘playing possum’ or pretending to be dead when it is in danger. They actually pass out. However, they might also aggressively hiss and drool to try to scare a predator away; or they might throw up or go to the bathroom – anything to make themselves smelly and disgusting so the potential predator will not want to eat them! Opossums are scavengers and rarely prey on live animals. Instead, they eat foods and garbage that other animals won’t eat, along with fruits and nuts, green plants, insects, earthworms, birds, and even road kill.

Their predators include coyotes, foxes, large owls and hawks. Most are killed by cars, however, and humans also hunt Virginia opossums for food. They are found in a variety of environments but they prefer wet areas, especially streams and swamps. They can carry and transmit rabies.

#66c HISTORY NOTE – Revolutionary War Field Cannons

The mobile “field” cannon was used in colonial America during the French and Indian War as well as during the American Revolution – a type in use over a span of almost 700 years, stretching long before and after this era. During the Revolutionary War cannons were considered the queens of the battlefield. Unsupported infantry usually lost if the enemy had cannons.

#67 HISTORY NOTE – George P. Coleman Bridge in Yorktown

The George P. Coleman Bridge, better known as the Yorktown Bridge, spans one-mile over the York River between Yorktown and Gloucester. The bridge is a 3,750 ft. double-swing-span bridge. This means that two center swing spans move while the remaining plate girder spans are stationery. It has been in place for 43 years. The original structure was designed to carry 15,000 vehicles a day but today the reconstructed bridge carries over 27,000 vehicles a day and that is expected to rise.

The bridge opens for large sailing vessels and for ships that are destined for the Naval Weapons Station upstream.

Its reconstruction was a noteworthy event: it is the first known project in the United States where a bridge this size has been floated in on barges, essentially ready for traffic. According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, it took only nine days to replace the world’s second largest double swing-span bridge: “About 2,500 feet of new spans were floated into place with everything ready to carry traffic including pavement, light poles, and barrier walls. The new sections were built 30 miles downstream and floated up the Chesapeake Bay before being placed on the old bridge’s river piers.” Many people wonder how the swing-spans rotate without hitting other spans. The answer is that the two main river piers have devices that lift the swing-spans to different elevations so they mesh when they rotate.

#68 HISTORY NOTE – Yorktown Monument

Lady Victory at Yorktown resembles a younger sister to the Statue of liberty. She sits atop a tall, slender pedestal at the edge of the Yorktown Battlefield where, in 1781, Washington’s troops and French allies won the last decisive fight for American independence. The monument was erected by the U.S.Government on the centennial of the Yorktown victory. Inscribed on the monument are the names of Americans known to have lost their lives in the Yorktown campaign. Nearby is a monument that bears the names of the French soldiers who died at Yorktown under the leadership of General Rochambeau. It is visible for many miles.

#69 HISTORY NOTE – The Siege of Yorktown

On the night of October 14, 1781, 400 French troops attacked Redoubt #9 while 400 American troops stormed Redoubt #10. They captured both positions in less than thirty minutes. Nine Americans and fifteen Frenchmen died in this brief and heroic action. Redoubts are small, enclosed forts with artillery and connecting trenches. Pointed wooden spears protect the troops inside the redoubt. Three days later Cornwallis proposed a ceasefire. He sent a British drummer followed by a British officer with a white flag and a note indicating his desire for a ceasefire. A number of notes passed between Cornwallis and Washington as they set a framework for the surrender. The next day, Cornwallis’s army marched out of Yorktown between two lines of Allied soldiers – Americans on one side, the French on the other.

 This ended the last major battle of the American Revolution that started eight years earlier at Lexington and at North Bridge in Concord. Cornwallis was in Yorktown because he had been ordered to provide a protected harbor for the British fleet in the lower Chesapeake Bay. In 1783 the final treaty was signed which formally ended the war and acknowledged American Independence.

#70 HISTORY NOTE – Redoubt No. 10

Redoubt No. 10 was captured from the British on the night of October 14 in a bayonet attack led by Alexander Hamilton. Among those who stood out was Sgt. William Brown who later was the recipient of one of the first Purple Heart awards ever made. Afterwards, this award was reserved for extraordinary bravery in action. Five days after its capture the allied leaders met in Redoubt No. 10 and signed the Articles of Capitulation which already had been signed by the British commanders. This is probably one of the most memorable spots on the Yorktown Battlefield.

REAR COVER PHOTO NOTE

Willi with Mr. V and the major animal characters in the book. 'V' stands for VISITOR...or VICTORY.