On the third day outbound from Germanna along the Rapidan River, the party made better mileage. For about five miles, they traveled on the north side of the Rapidan River. In doing so they were traversing land which Spotswood was to patent. From this and the first days' events, one sees the true nature of the expedition. Spotswood and the other gentlemen were looking at the land with a view toward taking some of it up.
The camp at the end of the third day was near to the mouth of the Robinson River. The route past this point is conjecture. Randy Grymes, a current day writer and historian, thought they may have taken a southern route along the Rapidan because several members of the party took up land to the south of the Rapidan River. But by the same reasoning, if one notes that Spotswood did take up 40,000 acres north of the river, one might argue that the route of the party might have been along the Robinson River. But either way, it is clear that the men were looking for land and that this was the primary purpose of the expedition.
On September 10, late in the afternoon, the party returned to Germanna. The next day seems to have been a day of rest for some while others took their departure. Gov. Spotswood is said to have settled his business with the Germans and accommodated the minister and the people. This is as much as Fontaine tells us on this subject. On September 12, Fontaine and Mr. Robinson attempted to melt some ore in the smith's forge but could get nothing out it. On the 13th, Fontaine and Spotswood left Germanna but went by way of the mine, where they gathered up samples of the ore to take back to Williamsburg.
This expedition marks a turning point in Spotswood's economic plans. For more than three years, of which the Germans had been present for more than two years, Spotswood had been pinning his hopes on the silver mine. Nothing had come from this because the crown failed to set the royal share which Spotswood regarded as essential. Also, the mine failed to show any silver. Spotswood had decided land was a better alternative. Land had proven to be the route to wealth for many Virginians and Spotswood had decided to embark on a large scale land acquisition program. The few thousand acres that he had taken up were to be nothing in comparison to his future plans.
The fantasy of the romanticized " Knights of the Golden Horseshoe " name completely masks the true nature of the expedition. The trek was a business venture to look for land. Spotswood evaluated the land which Beverley wanted to use in a partnership. And he was looking for additional land to the north of the Rapidan River to add to this. While he was in the neighborhood of Germanna, he also had Fontaine make an assessment of the mine. Fontaine makes it clear that there was no future in silver mining.
Ironically, in later years, in this general neighborhood, gold was found in commercial quantities.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.