Jeremy Rogers
A-3
Mrs. Edwards

West Virginia Legends

The history and folklore of West Virginia is as vast as it is and numerous. When people think of West Virginian myths, they tend to think about Bigfoot or Mothman. However, I think more about the myths and legends more obscure than those famous cryptids everyone talks about. This paper will be about the local myths regarding our home town, Beckham.

The author Harold Pike, a West Virginian historian, has many unknown and obscure stories in his book "The Tales and Other Ends of West Virginia". The book "The Tales and Other Ends of West Virginia" is originally from 1945, so it isn't filled with many recent folklore like Mothman or other cryptids. In this book, Harold Pike tells the stories of many tales taken from many different sources, including other books or even people, and some of them even take place in Beckham. One story is that of "The Train Through Beckham", which is taken directly from Harold Pike's creative brain, which talks about the mysterious Death Train which runs through town and blows up a house. Another one is "That Woman", which is originally from Randy Gakesbur, and although the story doesn't take place in Beckham, the author is from Beckham. The story talks about a pale woman in white clothing coming to an old cabin in the middle of the night, before randomly running away from the home for no reason. One last story found in the book "The Tales and Other Ends of West Virginia" is "A Bear and His Dragon", which is originally from Ted Brandy, which talks about a wild bear and his dragon friend which go for a lovely picnic in the Beckham countryside, attacking the people as they go.

In conclusion, West Virginia a special place for storis to be told. There are so many tales within West Virginia, but everyone only focuses on the famous ones. Next time you're reading about Mothman, you should read a story about Beckham too.