Muddy Creek Falls is a local landmark that had some famous visitors. Picture it – a nature-loving President takes a spur-of-the moment getaway to rendezvous with three of the most powerful industrialists in the Western world at a campsite in the mountains of Western Maryland, where they ride horses, shoot rifles, chop wood, and slumber in tents beside a trickling stream.
This describes just one of several trips taken to Swallow Falls by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. The group was often accompanied by naturalist William Burroughs, before his death in 1921. Calling themselves “The Vagabonds”, they made a series of summer trips which took them through most of Eastern America. It was the friendship between Burroughs and Ford that acted as the catalyst for these excursions. From two very different worlds, the naturalist philosopher and the industrialist found common ground upon their first meeting around 1913. During tour of the Everglades, they were joined by Edison and talk of camping trips ensued.
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