Amish Country

 This was a trip I took with my mother to Amish Country on September 23, 2020.  People were not wearing masks at all in Amish Country.  Not the workers nor the residents and tourists.  It is a 3 hour drive give or take from my mom's and we almost ran out of gas coming back as the GPS took us a different way.  We also went through, what we jokingly called 'Trump Country" due to there being a lot of trump supporters in that area we passed through.  

Dream Bridge-Knox County

First up is the Dream Bridge which is located in Knox County. It is a 370-foot long bridge spanning the Mohican River and has a horse trail.  Mom and I found it by accident when we were driving to Amish Country and turned around to go see it.  Being from Maine (ME) and there being a ton of covered bridges in Maine, we both like the covered bridges & the history behind them.   It is a pedestrian and bicycling bridge and part of the Mohican Valley Trail, a nature trail built on an abandoned railroad bed belonging to the old Pennsylvania Railroad

Amish Country

Little Switzerland of Ohio

I was surprised how small the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock was but I am in love with them and would like to go to Switzerland to buy one for myself.  

Peace Bridge

The Peace Bridge is another covered bridge in Ohio.  It is located in Walnut Creek, Ohio and is also known as Stutzman's Crossing.   It was named for the first settler of Walnut Creek, a man named Jonas Stutzman.   It is located on County Road 145

Peace Bridge
Peace-Loving Amish families build brotherly Native American Frontier Relations.   An unbarred cabin door could mean vulnerability.  But for one of the earliest pioneering families of the Ohio country, the peace-loving Amish Jacob Mast family of Walnut Creek (1812), it could mean surprises.   The Masts had arrived only three years after the arrival of the first white settler in-what would become eastern Holmes County-the Amishman Jonas Stutuzman in 1809.  

Only one mile east of here and across a gently flowing stream is the Jacob Mast cabin site.  Occasionally late on a frosty winter night 2 to 4 Native Americans returning home from their night's hunt, instead of passing by, would try the door and then silently slip in to sleep in front of the fireplace.

In the morning, before venturing down from the sleeping loft of their log cabin, the Masts cautiously peered down through the loft hole.   Yes, as sometimes occurred, there they were, the sleeping frontier Indians lying on the floor in front of the fireplace.

Mrs. Mast would carefully descend through the loft hole to prepare breakfast.   For this provided the Christian opportunity to provide a brotherly breakfast to their drop-in guests.

After the peaceful fellowship with the Masts, the Indians proceeded farther up the hollow to their encampment.   (Does the raised two fingers suggest that they had harvested two deer during the night?)  This story speaks well for peaceful Christian relationships between frontier Native Americans and the Amish.

Instead of forcing the Native Americans off their land or shooting them, the Amish believed in sharing Christian hospitality with them.  Originating in 1525 during the reformation era, neither Catholic nor Protestant but a third way, the peaceful Anabaptists (including modern day Amish and Mennonites) believe following Jesus means Christians never kill their fellowman.  May we cross the bridge of peace, kindness and goodwill to all people.

This history reflects the heritage of Holmes County which was to become the largest Amish settlement in the world.  We welcome you to enjoy this heritage of peace in "the Amish Country."