THE STORY

Starting in 1914, The Vegabonds embarked on vehicle-based camping trips while exploring the American countryside and in 1918, they passed through West Virginia.

That year, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs—known collectively as The Vagabonds—set out on one of their most famous camping road trips. That summer, they traveled through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, exploring mountain roads, small towns, and stretches of rural countryside. Their caravan typically included Ford automobiles, a series of trucks carrying supplies, and a full support crew who helped set up elaborate campsites.

At each campsite, they stayed in large canvas tents outfitted with comfortable furniture, electric lights powered by Edison’s batteries, and even a mobile kitchen that prepared fresh meals. Despite the luxurious setup, the group spent much of their time hiking, observing nature with Burroughs, and discussing ideas about science, industry, and the future of America. Crowds occasionally gathered along their route, eager to glimpse the famous travelers as they passed through.

The 1918 trip became one of their most iconic because it blended innovation with the classic American spirit of exploration. It showcased early automobile travel as both practical and adventurous, demonstrating how motorcars could open the country to ordinary travelers. Their journey helped popularize road tripping itself, leaving a legacy that shaped how Americans think about travel, nature, and modern mobility.

THE LODGE

Completed in 1887, the Cheat Mountain Club was among the most remote retreats built in the Alleghenies—a three-day journey by rail and wagon from Pittsburgh under the best conditions. Along the Shaver’s Fork of the Cheat River, it was built in primeval isolation among the highest peaks in the mountain chain. Here its developers raised a massive lodge. Harvested from virgin stands of spruce, its largest timbers extend laterally more than 60 feet across the front and exceed more than two feet in width.

The club was the brainchild of The Sportsman’s Association of Cheat Mountain, which acquired a 50-year lease on 50,000 acres on the fork south of the Stanton & Parkersburg Turnpike, a trans-Allegheny wagon road, now U.S. 250. Its incorporators were M.O. and Thomas A. Edwards and L.E. and M.W. Harrison. Two years later, in 1889, more than 150 members held stock in the club, and the greater part were from the Pittsburgh area.

Inside, the building originally consisted of one massive room, two-stories high, with many windows and a large hearth. High along the interior walls of the second story hung an encircling mezzanine filled with beds designed to accommodate 30 to 40 guests. A central cupola provided air circulation and allowed even more light to fill the interior and a bathroom supplied with hot and cold water would certainly have been considered a luxury accommodation at most hunting camps. Through the years a two-story kitchen wing was added, but little else of the structure apparently changed.

When the Western Maryland Railway acquired the Cheat Mountain Club in 1947 for use as a corporate retreat, it remodelled the structure to suit its needs, building-in a second floor with bedrooms, dividing the large, open first story into two smaller rooms—now a dining room and central lodge room. Notably on the exterior, the cupola was removed and the building was clad in brown clapboard.

In 1964, the railway sold the property to the Mower Lumber Company, and in 1987 the Mower interests sold the club and 196 acres to the Cheat Mountain Club Inc. The latter corporation had been established by Carl Frischkorn, who, while acting as managing director of Mower, became enamored with the property and sought to create a stewardship program to enhance and sustain it.

Thanks to the The Cheat Mountain Club, this historical lodge still stands and operates today.

THE EXPERIENCE

In Spring 2026, we invite you to join us for something different - Camp Cheat 1918. We’re hosting a filmed 5 day experience living in the very same 3-story cabin that housed The Vagabonds during their wild and rugged adventures in West Virginia.

When you arrive, you’ll be greeted by the Mountain State Overland team and shown to your room. On your first evening, we’ll enjoy drinks in the lodge living room while our table is set for dinner. Post-dinner we’ll relax by the fire indoors or enjoy the cool mountain temps creekside on the Shaver’s Fork.

After breakfast in the dining room, five guides from Wesley Hodges Fly Fishing will welcome you for a full day of fly fishing on the Shavers’s Fork and the Cheat Mountain Club’s privately owned ponds. A brief break for lunch and more fishing before we end our day with drinks before dinner.

Each day your meals will be prepped by lodge staff and each day is a new adventure. Rick Stowe will be working with guests on bushcraft and foraging skills in the natural environments that surround the property and on your final day MSO will break the guests into small groups and independently explore many of the back roads The Vagaonds likely drove as they passed through the area in 1918.

this event is presented by

THE GUIDES

FLY FISHING.

As an Orvis endorsed fly-fishing and wingshooting outfitter, Wesley Hodges Fly-Fishing is known for offering immersive, high-quality angling experiences in some of the most scenic waters of the Appalachian region. Their guide service emphasizes personalized instruction, making it a great choice for both beginners and seasoned fly-fishing enthusiasts. Five fly-fishing guides will welcome our guests for a full-day of fishing on the wild streams that surround the Cheat Mountain Club.

BUSHCRAFT.

Rick Stowe’s pastimes and work have revolved around the outdoors for the last two decades. From developing outdoor recreation programming for university students to covering weeklong overland trips for national publications. In order to be more capable and self reliant in the wilderness he’s trained across a wide array of bushcraft and survival topics. He’s always happy to share these skills with others, and he’s excited to spend time either the group at the Cheat Mountain Club.

OVERLANDING.

Mountain State Overland (MSO) is an overland guide and media team known for exploring the rugged, scenic backroads of the Appalachian region and beyond. Their journeys highlight responsible overlanding practices while emphasizing stewardship of public lands. Through engaging storytelling and a strong sense of community, they inspire others to get outdoors and explore. The MSO Team will be leading guests on a series of micro-adventures on the backroads that surround the Cheat Mountain Club.