This curiosity is in Page County; and Kercheval gives the following
account of it:
"The grandeur and sublimity of this extraordinary work of nature,
consists in its tremendous height and singular formation. On entering
the mouth of the fort, we are struck with the awful height of the
mountains on each side, probably not less than a thousand feet. Through
a very narrow passage, a bold and beautiful stream of water rushes,
called Passage Creek, which a short distance below works several fine
merchant mills. After travelling two or three miles, the valley
gradually widens, and for upwards of twenty miles furnishes arable
land, and affords settlement for eighty or ninety families, several of
whom own very valuable farms. The two mountains run parallel 24 or 25
miles, and are called East and West Fort Mountains, and then are merged
into one, anciently Mesinetto, now Masinutton Mountain. The Masinutton
Mountain continues its course about 35 or 36 miles southerly, and
abruptly terminates opposite Keisletown, in the County of Rockingham.
This range of mountains divides the two branches of the Shenandoah
River, called the South and North Forks. This mountain, upon the whole,
presents to the eye something of the shape of the letter Y, or perhaps
more the shape of the hounds and tongue of a wagon.
"A few miles above Luray, on the west side of the river, there are
three large INDIAN GRAVES, ranged nearly side by side, 30 or 40 feet in
length, 12 or 14 feet wide, and 5 or 6 feet high. Around them, in a
circular form, are a number of single graves. The whole covers an area
of little less than a quarter of an acre. They present to the eye a
very ancient appearance, and are covered over with pine and other
forest growth. The excavation of the ground around them is plainly to
be seen. The three first-mentioned graves are in oblong form; probably
contain many hundreds of human bodies, and were doubtless the work of
ages.