Knights of the Golden Horseshoe

Knights of the Golden Horseshoe is a Virginia historical marker in Madison County, dedicated 2017.

Rte. 15, at intersection with Madison Mills Lane

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Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood and a company of explorers, heading westward from Germanna, camped about four miles northeast of here on 31 Aug. 1716. The party, composed of gentry, soldiers, servants, and four Meherrin Indian guides, crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and reached the Shenandoah River during its 13-day journey, claiming the land for King George I. According to legend, Spotswood later gave small golden horseshoes to the gentry in the group. These men became known as the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, and the expedition was later mythologized in literature.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

American Geographical Society Library, UW-Milwaukee

Historical maps covering this location

1719 · A new map of the English empire in America viz Virginia, New York, Maryland, New Jersey… (American Geographical Society Library, UW-Milwaukee)
1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1781 · MARCH of the ARMY under Lieut:t General EARL CORNWALLIS in VIRGINIA, from the JUNCTION at… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1889 · Virginia and West Virginia (eastern portion). (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1926 · Proposed Shenandoah National Park, Virginia / engraved and printed by the U.S. Geological… (University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

More markers nearby

Madison County/Orange Countyunder 1 mi
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