She read aloud.
“May 17th, 1850. I have established with the state office that this settlement shall endure. The charter grants perpetual rights to this trading post and the lands adjoining it, to be held in trust for the settlement’s benefit. Should this structure survive, so too shall the original grant of land and its attendant rights. I have secured these documents here beneath the floor of my post, that they might be preserved for those who come after.”
Silas looked up sharply.
“Perpetual rights. Land held in trust. What does that mean?”
Emily had the charter document in hand. Her eyes widened as she read further.
“I’m not a lawyer,” she said slowly, “but I think… I think this means whoever owns this structure—the original trading post—may have legal claim to certain rights associated with the founding of Riverside. Water rights, possibly access rights, maybe mineral rights if those were never separated from the original grant.”
She pulled out her phone.
“I need to make some calls. This is beyond historical interest. This could have real legal and financial implications.”
Over the next several hours, while the light faded and the cold returned, Emily called the Vermont Historical Society, a property law professor at UVM, and the state historic preservation office.
The response was immediate and consistent.
This was a major discovery.
By the next morning, experts began arriving at the tiny structure.
The first was Dr. Patricia Morrison from the Vermont Historical Society—no relation, thankfully, to the mocking Morrison couple in town. She was a serious woman in her sixties who spent four hours examining the building, the journal, the maps, and the legal papers.
At the end of it, she stood in the middle of the shack and said plainly, “This is authenticated. This is absolutely the Josiah Whitmore Trading Post, and these documents are genuine period materials. I’ve seen enough of Whitmore’s work to be certain.”
Leave a Comment