The next day, Billy directed Brandon and I up Walker Gap to the old Ben Walker farm. Walker was the man who reportedly organized the Haley-McCoy burial party in 1889. Once there, we found no buildings remaining so we stopped at the family cemetery, which was just off the hill from the Haley-McCoy grave. Ben’s grave was marked by a simple rock.

From there we headed to “Runyon’s Branch,” a small stream emptying into the Guyandotte River just above the mouth of Harts Creek. Supposedly, John Runyon once lived near the mouth of this branch while operating a sawmill at its head. It was a great set-up: Runyon owned his own hollow and could float his timber directly into the Guyan River, thus avoiding Al Brumfield’s boom and tax. Nearby on a bluff was the probable site of his “blind tiger,” where he would’ve had a great view of Brumfield’s timber operations just across the mouth of Harts Creek. At this location, Runyon was surrounded by members of the Adkins family. Some of his neighbors were Burl Adkins (a brother-in-law to Fed Adkins), Mose Adkins (Fed Adkins’ brother), Ben Walker, and Cain Adkins.