Judys Vision

Shortly after the Civil War there lived in Mitchell County a gifted lady by the name of Judy Cook. Judy was the oldest of three sisters who were Jane and Harriet the youngest. Since Judy was a little girl she had a special ability. She's was able to sense danger through preminitions or visions. One late autumn Judy's sisters made plans to take a journey on foot across Roan Mountain to Carter County Tennessee to visit relatives. They had wanted to visit earlier in the year but Harriet had become ill. She was prone to sudden bouts of sickness especially when physically exerted, and would become bedridden for days at a time. It was for this reason the sisters previous plans had to be postponed. As the sisters were finally prepared to depart Judy had a preminition and became very distraught. The vision she had seen was so horrible that she did not want to reveal the details of it. Nonetheless, she tried to warn her sisters to cancel the trip saying something bad was going to happen. Jane and Harriet usually took Judy's warnings seriously but refused to cancel the trip saying that Harriet felt fine and they did not want to delay the visit any longer due to winter's approach making the mountain impassable. As the two travellers left, a nagging feeling tormented Judy. There was nothing she could do however. The trip across Roan Mountain went smoothly.Harriet was seemingly in good health and the weather held. The two ladies visited with their family for two days and on the morning of the third day began the long journey back. After only a couple of hours into the trip, Harriet began to get sick. She continued to plod along behind Jane though trying her best to keep up. As they approached the highest peak of the mountain between them and home, Harriet had an extremely high fever and began to shake and vomit. Fear struck Jane's heart as she remembered the warning Judy had given her. Helping her sister along, she guided Harriet up the mountain but it was slow going. Harriet could hardly walk. The sky blackened and the wind whipping off the mountain chilled them to the bone. Finally at nightfall they made it to the top. Harriet could go no farther and collapsed under a tree. She slipped into unconsciousness. Judy, unable to build a fire, could do little but hold her sister in her arms and try to keep her warm. When daybreak came, Jane got up off the frozen ground and hurried down the mountain to get help. She came to a farm house at the base of the mountain and explained her situation to the farmer. The kindly man immediately hitched up his horses to the wagon and hastened up the mountain with Jane to fetch Harriet. Meanwhile,when her sister didn't return on time, Judy, worried sick, sent out a search party towards Roan Mountain. Her search party soon came upon the farmer and Jane with Harriet in back of the wagon wrapped up in blankets. They got her home and called for the doctor but in a short while Harriet passed away. Today one of the highest peaks of Roan Mountain is named for the terrible struggle one woman endured to keep her sister alive. That location is aptly named Jane's Bald.