The Legend of Buzzard Mountain

by Jeannie Croxton

Once long ago, in the time of our great, great grandfathers, the chiefs from the buzzard tribes flew from their home territories to their special meeting place on the evening of every full moon. They gathered to discuss the business of their respective tribes. In those days the buzzards were giant creatures, and the land was flat.

The chief of the eastern lands and the chief of the western lands became jealous of each other. They began to argue; then they began to fight. They flew high into the sky, circling and fighting, circling and fighting, until they crashed to the ground at a place we call Table Rock, knocking down all the trees and other plants, thus exposing the giant rock.

Their fighting continued until all the buzzards of each tribe got into a giant war. Both the eastern chief and western chief wanted to claim all the land as their own, so each commanded his buzzard warriors to take the land. Thousands of buzzards dug their claws into the land, flapped their wings mightily, and picked up both the eastern lands and the western lands. But the spirits who lived in the land were angered by this action, so they resisted. Thus, the two groups of warriors collided, causing wrinkling, buckling, and shifting of the land, resulting in the creation of the mountains.

The former special meeting place of the buzzard chiefs is now called Buzzard Mountain. Were the buzzards fell to the ground, valleys and gorges were created. Some of these are now called Jones Gap, Estatoe Gorge, and the Gorges of Jocassee.