One of the amusing tales that was told and retold in
Revolutionary times and years afterward in the Dark Corner area
was about a peculiar Black Angus bull that was not as fierce an
animal as one might expect.
When settlers in the area would go to the fort for
protection, they would carry with them their milk cows and cattle
for support during their stay in the garrison. Among the herds that
were driven to the fort was a famous bull, which had often been
shot at by renegade Indians.
Consequently, he was always alarmed by the report of a
gun. Folks began calling him the “Black Sentinel,” because on the
possible approach of danger, he would rush to the fort for
protection.
On a particular occasion, one of the garrison wandered a
great way from the fort, and discovered a renegade Indian lurking
in the woods. He fired at the Indian and immediately ran, thinking
that a whole host of other red-skinned savages might be in the
vicinity.
Sure enough, while running for the fort, he heard a terrible
rushing through the woods behind him, and was convinced that a
scalping was imminent. He dropped his gun and ran for his life.
Gradually, his pursuer gained on him.
In despair, and virtually out of breath, he was determined
to make a virtue out of necessity by stopping and facing his foe.
To his surprise, in doing an about face, he did not see a murdering
savage with a lifted tomahawk, but the familiar form of the “Black Sentinel” with his head and tail up, making a dash for the fort in
consequence of having heard his earlier shot.
“Never in my life,” he later told his fort companions, “was I
so glad to see a bull.”
The large Angus creature had no time or inclination to
slow and pass mutual compliments, however, and rushed on.
When the soldier finally arrived at the fort, he found the
garrison had been put on their guard by the arrival of the “Black
Sentinel,” and was ready to receive any attack by renegade
Indians.
– Dean Campbell