It is said that Captain Nathaniel Smith (The Bull Run's next door neighbor at the time) brought down the trophy now hanging over our taproom fireplace known as the Egopantis. Extremely rare then, and now extinct, locals reported the creature using the woods behind the Tavern as his roving grounds, wading through the Mighty Mulpus Brook and terrorizing the settlers hereabouts.
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Legend has it that the Egopantis waded into the brook for his customary drink one fateful evening just as Nathaniel was about to gather up his fishing gear. Unafraid, and reaching instead for his musket (also on display on our mantle), the Captain found his mark and shot. Though mortally wounded, the beast charged across the brook and up the banking to a spot which would be about midway across our parking lot today. There, the colossal Egopantis fell - and there he lay, his great strength slowly ebbing away.
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The Bull Run Innkeepers receive many inquiries, oral and written, regarding the Egopantis. One such investigation resulted in a soldier, himself a Captain, penning a letter to the Smithsonian as well as the Americana Institute in New York City, in an effort to dispel the mystery shrouding the origin of the Egopantis.
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There, a detailed and untiring search was undertaken by one Elizabeth Ryan, lady employee. Despite the abundant and formidable encyclopedic volumes at her command, Ms. Ryan's reply indicated that she was stumped.
Unrewarding though it was, her search did result in our establishing a "Bring- Elizabeth-to-Bull-Run-To-View-The-Egopantis Fund." The pewter teapot atop our mantle awaits contributions to this end (too few, we regret, to warrant the trip so far).
Newspaper reporters, ever seekers of the unusual, have also plied us with questions concerning the legend. No less a personage than the Boston Globe's Feature Writer visited and pondered. His article, published in a long-ago September, has faded and all but disappeared.
Doubt flickers, rises, recedes. Legends grow. In "boots off" comfort around our fireplace, YOU are the sole judge, as you have seen the Egopantis.
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And SEEING is BELIEVING! LONG LIVE THE EGOPANTIS!