“Undubbed by king, yet knights are we,

To sacred trust beholden;

And our insignia shall be,

A tiny horseshoe golden.

May those who climb,

To heights sublime,

In Honor’s arms be folden.” [1]

Why did they give themselves this name? Their name for themselves leads us to believe that they already envisioned themselves as the makers of history, the makers of myth. How has this name grown beyond their vision?

According to historian Janet H. Gaines:

“For this expedition, they had to provide a great number of horseshoes…On their return from the journey Governor Spotswood presented to each of his companions a miniature golden horseshoe, studded with jewels, representing nail heads, and with the inscription, “Sic juvat transcendere moutes” (Thus it is a pleasure to cross the mountains). He furthermore provided that any gentleman who could prove that he had drunk his Majesty’s health upon Mount George, was entitled to wear the golden shoe. Spotswood called it the ‘Transmontane Order.’ Friske says, that ‘in later times this incident was called instituting the order of the ‘Knights of the Golden Horseshoe’” [2, 114]

Sources:

[1]Knights of the Golden Horseshoe and Other Lays by Robert Amistead Stewart (Richmond, VA : The Evans Press, Inc., 1909).

[2]Hugh Jones, History of Virginia, 1724 in Janet Harris Gaines Governor Spotswood and His Times: The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe (1907).