The Legend of Sally Pratt

With permission, we've quoted the following story from B.B. Woods and Bernice Barnett's book, Green Mountain Reflections: Stories of the Green Mountains. 

Many families have a story that has been passed down for generations. The following is a legend about our family that has been passed down, and it has also been published in a few histories.

The woman, Sally Pratt, was our great-great-grandmother. Hers was the first recorded birth of a white woman in Halifax, VT. She later married Moses Learnard, our great-great-grandfather, who came to Vermont in 1782.

"Sally anxiously stirred up the coals in the fireplace but, to her dismay, the coals showed no signs of life. The room already had telltale signs of chilliness.

She went to the window and peered out. The bright October leaves had begun to fall and the crisp wind had blown them helter-skelter in crazy designs. She loved this time of year most.

She reluctantly slipped on her homespun coat, looked up at the sun and calculated the hour to be between three and four in the afternoon. Then she hurriedly made her way down the path that led through dense woods. In her hand she carried an iron kettle, which she would use to carry back live coals she would get from her neighbor to rekindle her fire (there were no matches in those days). 

As Sally followed the path, she regretted that she had so carelessly let the fire go out. She was deep in thought about her duties at home when suddenly she heard a noise. She listened and decided she was no the only soul on this path. She wondered if the traveler was a neighbor. She soon found out because as she rounded the corner, there she was face-to-face with a black bear. Frightened, she struggled for control. What should she do? The bear made the first decision and scrambled up a nearby tree. This answered Sally's question. She rushed to the bottom of the tree and, removing her apron, tied it around the tree's trunk, hoping this would frighten the bear and keep him up the tree.

She then ran the rest of the way to her destination, the home of Captain John Pennell. Upon reaching his home, she told him of her experience and after getting the necessary coals for her fire, she and Capt. Pennell went back to the place where she met the bear. Sure enough, Mr. Bear was still up the tree, afraid to come down because of the apron.

Capt. Pennell aimed his trusty rifle and the bear had no more to say. However, Sally did, and before long the little settlement of Halifax was buzzing with this remarkable tale.

Today, many people feel that the world is a pretty dangerous place. this story reveals that people in early times had dangerous situations that confronted them as well."

Source:  B.B. Woods & Bernice Barnett, Green Mountain Reflections: Stories of the Green Mountains, 1995.

You'll have to get the book to read other Green Mountain Reflections. See our book review for additional information.