Ottie Cline Powell ~Thanksgiving Day 2007~

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“This is the exact spot Little Ottie Cline Powell’s body was found April 5, 1891 After straying from Tower Hill School House Nov. 9. A distance of 7 miles. Age 4 Years, 11 Months“…

After spending some quality time this Thanksgiving day morning with the Nephew and Niece, two and four years old, I decided to change my ritual Thanksgiving day hike to a part of the Appalachian Trail near Buena Vista.
Had a great time with the sister’s kids and as I thought how fortunate we are to have children in a country where their futures are almost unlimited as far as they wish to go, it reminded me of the story of Ottie Cline Powell.





The Appalachian trail crosses over the Blue Ridge Parkway at 51.5 mile marker to the Western side of the mountain range after climbing 1,200 feet in about 2 miles you come to the top of Bluff Mountain. Located near the peak of Bluff Mountain is the above marker dedicated to Ottie Cline Powell…



Back in 1891 a small boy named Ottie Cline Powell went to his local school and wandered off into the woods while looking for firewood with other classmates never to return.



A school teacher from a school in nearby Buena Vista wrote of this incident in 1925 and the story was published. Here are selected sections of this published story to describe the incident.



http://www.jcpinkerton.com/people/ottie.html

“As the boys went hurrying out for a romp and jump, the kind teacher requested they bring back a small armful of dry wood for the morning’s fire.
The school house was located about seven miles east of the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, near the foot of the hills“

The story goes on to describe the intense search by approximately 1,500 locals from all over who responded once they heard of the missing boy. One of these volunteers who knew Ottie well thought to use his dog who also knew Ottie well…

“Mr. Wood went home and brought the dog and put him on the little boy’s track where he had dropped his pole of wood. The dog seemed at once to know something had happened to little Ottie. Mr. Wood said that the dog at once took the trail and went toward the high peaks of the main ridge. The dog was gone so long that they thought he had left the trail and had gone off hunting for something else. For they did not think the little boy had gone so far and in that direction, and for this reason they did not follow the dog closely“.

“Mr. Wood told me that he believed the dog went to him that very night, as he was gone so long. I have no doubt from what Mr. Wood told me that the faithful old dog did go to little Ottie and wag his tail and lick his face, having found him asleep returned to his owner who sent him on the trail“.

About six months later four young men crossed over Bluff Mountain…

“But on the Sunday of April the 5th, as they approached this high peak, their dog having gone on ahead of them and was barking at something on top of this high peak, they thought they would go on to the top and see what the dog had found to bark at“.

Again with the dogs…



“As they walked up to him they could hardly believe their own eyes. It was the long-sought-for little Ottie Powell. This part of it seemed providential. These young men just seemed to be led this way, as they had no particular business to be traveling this rough trail on this Sunday“.








In search and rescue it is stressed to pinpoint the last known exact location of the missing person and concentrate on this area. In Scuba Search and Rescue victims are often found within 100 feet of the last confirmed known location. For small Ottie to travel over 7 miles is incredible and the arrow in the above photo shows the location of Buena Vista as seen from the peak of Bluff Mountain where Ottie was found. A distance of 5.75 miles…




"What seemed to puzzle them was how a little fellow like him, less than five years of age, climbed over such rocks, hedges and cliffs to this lofty peak. The altitude is 3350 feet on the line of Rockbridge and Amherst County. From this peak can be seen three county seats, Amherst, Lexington, and Bedford city. Also the city of Buena Vista and Lynchburg“.

It is commomn practice for hikers along the Appalachian Trail to leave Toys and items for Ottie at the marker. This story and landmark appears in many of the trail guides and hikers have been known to carry items for long distances to leave "Something for Ottie" at the marker...

There is power in that Pachyderm watching over Ottie's marker...