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| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “New year begins with answering
call to the hill country” was originally published in the Jan. 9, 1992 edition
of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
The first day of the new year 1992 was spent as most have
been during the past years. It seems to have become a ritual of a sorts for me
to head northward from home into the hill country for an afternoon ride.
Don’t ask me why I always go in that direction, because I
cannot answer as to the calling. But for some strange reason, it always happens
each year, as though it was planned in advance.
I have never been able to understand why high hills or
mountains have that special effect on most of mankind. Throughout man’s history,
he has sought out the high places for some unknown reason. Our Holy Bible
speaks of man seeking solitude in the high places, where he can be alone with
himself for meditation and some serious thinking.
Perhaps, in the high country, man realizes just how small he
is when it comes to the overall vastness of our universe. But whatever the
reason, the time comes when nothing seems to go as it should unless the view of
the high country is witnessed first hand.
Always, when I venture into the hills, no two trips are the
same. Everything always looks different; maybe not much, but always different.
One might visit the same place a number of times and look across the same vast
valley into the hills beyond, but always, something will not be the same as it
was on previous visits.
The shadows might be different or the clouds will be higher
or lower over the hilltops. But the one feeling that always remains the same is
that as one looks across the vastness, time seems to stand still.
Man and world events become a very small speck in the
paintings of our creation. And, as one stands and views the hilltops as they
point skyward on the distant horizon, one will feel that time has no meaning.
A thousand years could seem as a moment’s passing. And, if
it was possible to return to that same spot in another thousand years, the view
would be the same, as though time had stopped.
Many times I have heard the question as to why the old
mountain men of some of our western states would disappear into the high
country for a period of a whole year and never be seen.
I can tell you that I have experienced that feeling or desire,
but I cannot tell you why. As I stated earlier, man seems to be drawn there,
for whatever reason. Some years ago, my wife and I were fortunate to live for a
period of six years in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. At every chance,
we went into the mountains for relaxation and to draw strength from the towering
peaks that reached toward the heavens.
I would often have the opportunity to talk to some of the
old mountain men upon their return from the high country, each seeking a grub
stake or a handout that would enable them to gather supplies and return as soon
as possible to their beloved mountains.
Always when I asked why they returned to the mountains, they
would always say that they didn’t know, but they knew they had to return to the
place where peace and contentment abounded and all was well within themselves.
As I made several visits to some of those small, one-room
log cabins perched on the steep slopes of the high mountains, I began to feel
why they were there. To sit around the small open fireplaces inside the cabin
or outside on a crude bench hewn from a log was what drew these men from the flat
lands below.
I became friends with an old man who had been a successful
college professor in his earlier years. He had wealth. He had prestige and everything
that should have made his life a complete success. Then, one day, he came to
the mountains and, according to his story, never returned to that way of life
he had known and followed.
I asked him if he had any regrets of giving up a successful
career in exchange for the life of a mountain man. He stated that he had none;
his answer: “happiness and contentment and complete peace of mind cannot be
measured in dollars and cents.” Several times his family tried without success
to have him return and take up his life.
Perhaps man might just have a slight touch of the great
eagle within his thoughts and structure that cause him to seek out the high
places. Referring again to the Holy Scriptures, we are to find in several
verses of the Old Testament the great eagle and man compared, both in strength,
endurance and wisdom.
This leads me to believe that there might just be a
relationship, one that we have failed to investigate and do research on and one
that might bring more meaning and beauty to our lives if we would listen.
The wise men of the early Indian tribes seem to think that
there was a connection. Many times when they talked to the Great Spirit they
would speak of the great eagle and of their spirits seeking the high places.
And many times when the warm words of love are spoken by those who know, the
great eagle and the lofty peaks come to mind; perhaps in words as this:
“If by some miracle we were transferred into the images of
two great eagles, we would spread our graceful wings and ascend to the lofty
peaks. There we would listen to the sighing winds and watch the golden rays of
the setting sun streak across the heavens. We would rest among the clouds, and dwell
in the eternal evening forever.”
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime
resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances
Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in
Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a
U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand,
lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964
and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from
June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks
to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe
County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe
Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that
appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared
in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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