Page:History of Cumberland, Maryland 2.djvu/208

190 arrived at and left Cumberland over this great highway. Braddock's grave waa one of the great points of attraction on the road, and every day the stages were stopped, in order that the passengers might disembark for a few minutes to inspect the place. The old oak tree, ten years since, fell a victim to the imperious hand of time, and during the prevalence of a storm was blown down, the trunk

breaking off some feet from the ground, leaving only a stripped and shredded trunk to mark the sacred spot. The stump has now entirely disap- peared, and no mark of the old tree remains. In 1871 a party of gentlemen from England visited the place, and before leaving it they had it enclosed with a fence of boards securely built; and thus it remains to-day.