[25] The three engineers who accompanied Braddock's expedition (_Seaman Journal_, 364) made striking use of a series of absolutely straight lines in laying out the road, except where the fording of a river required a tortuous route, or where the topography of the country was such as to render their plan utterly impracticable. This device, which impressed itself upon the writer and his party as they were crossing Wills Mountain, afterwards proved of great value to them in their efforts to pick up the road where traces of it were completely obliterated for rods at a time in cultivated fields. [26] _Orme Journal_, 327. In fixing the several encampments the writer has been aided to some extent by the maps already published, but chiefly by Orme's journal, which records the number of miles of each day's march with great accuracy, and by the topographic sheets, without the aid of which neither the road nor the encampments could have been so definitely located. [27] From this point to Clarysville the route is through a gap between Dans Mountain and Piney Mountain. [28] This spring is about one-third of a mile west of the tollgate on the National turnpike. [29] Although many misstatements and untenable notions as to the location of the road, the places of encampment, etc., are prevalent in the country adjacent to the line of march, yet local tradition is in many cases surprisingly accurate. [30] See Middleton's map. [31] _Orme Journal_, 333. [32] See Lowdermilk's _History of Cumberland_, 257. This stone, sometimes designated Braddock's Stone, bears the following inscription: "11 mile To Ft Cumberland 29 Ms To Captn Smyth's Inn and Bridge Big Crossings & The Best Road To Redstone Old Fort 64 M." This is fairly legible. The other side reads, "Our countrys rights we will defend." There is no reason for supposing that this stone was erected by Braddock's command. [33] On the summit of the mountain, a few hundred yards to the north of the road, is St. John Rock, 2930 feet above sea level, from which a magnificent view of the surrounding country is to be had. [34] Three wagons were entirely destroyed in passing this mountain, and several more were shattered (_Orme Journal_, 335). [35] It is an interesting fact that throughout the route the fording of a stream was in every case at or slightly below the mouth of a tributary. At such a place there is usually a riffle caused by the formation of a bar of sand, gravel, and mud, the crest of which offers a very practical opportunity for fording. Some of the apparent deviations of the road from what would seem to have been the natural course may have been made for the sake of avoiding a depth of water which might have rendered the streams impassable except by bridging. In other instances a circuitous route may have been the most practicable way of passing a swamp or a bog. [36] _Orme Journal_, 335.