Kentucky River
Vol V, No. 4
.. THE BIG BLUE THING
Every momin ’ at eight leaning close b y the van, Its face etched so young on a dark blue tan, See the strong silent presence, hardly marked b y a ding, We first m et the stranger, the Big Blue Thing. Had a head like a thumbtack, ju st one fo o t like a knife, Which explains why he “leaned” in the dawn's early light. We didn ’t know then, but we sure know now, That this hombre would shake us from toe to brow. The ground at the fence site was made b y the devil, It was ignious, sedementary, sure as heck wasn’t level. First hole, ju st seven inches, then the sound o f perdition, Would this hill be a battle o f costly attrition? It rose to the task, which is hard with one leg, With gunpowder’s fury exploding from a keg. I t ’s aim was true, as it struck it did sing, I ’m gonna get you, rock, I ’m the Big Blue Thing. There’s four holes left, but two seem to have locks, But tomorrow AM, w e ’re gonna make the hill rock. With the sledgehammer helping, and Big Blue b y our side, We’ll make the holes deeper, and perfectly wide. As each o f yo u travel, down life’s testy road, Hold this thought with yo u to lighten you r load; Say I dug with the best in 79’s Spring, There was me and there was Jesus and the Big Blue Thing. Mike Morrissey March, 1979 This was written by Mike, our Stanford Child Development Center director, and read to a weary group of volunteers who had spent much £>f a week helping Mike dig post Iroles and erect a fence. The posthole digger was blue in color, and apparently one of the volunteers asked, when they first came on the
scene, “What is that big blue thing?" For those of you unfamiliar with a post-hole digger, it is a strange looking contraption and, especially when you hit rock, it does indeed shake you “from toe to brow." In Kentucky, you hit a lot of rock digging postholes.
May 1979
REMEDIAL READING Last summer we were privileged by the visit of a group of brothers, The Brothers of Christian Instruc tion. They came to us from Platts burgh, New York. They assisted us in Bible Schools, street preaching, manual labor, home visitation and many other programs that we had. After a summer of intense activity they came up with a suggestion that they would like to come back the following year and set up a remedial reading program for the children of our area. One o f the great problems in Appalachia as well as in the country as a whole is the lack o f reading skills among many o f our young people. This handicaps them in all their other school work as well as their jo b opportunities. We have recognized such a problem, but frequently have been unable to do much about it because of our many activities in other fields. This summer, however, the Brothers will be able to establish two remedial reading centers in our area. One will be located in Lan caster and the other one will be in Mt. Vernon. Anywhere from a dozen to twenty-five children a day will be brought to each of these centers. The children will be worked with on an individual basis and it is hoped that their accomplishments in reading will be significant as a result of the summer program, We are presently working with the school systems in the two counties and they seem to be quite excited about this added program that would assist the young people o f our area. We, too, look forward to this first year of a concentrated program in remedial reading.
From t h e
E d i t o r ’s Des k
A number of letters I've re ceived express a desire for more literary content in Soundings, and we fully intend to move in that direction. This issue will have two poems in it, in addition to Part II of Reverend Beiting's Wilderness Road series. One of the poems was subrriitted by a subscriber, Mary Domstead of Duncan, Oklahoma, and the other was written by a CAP staff member, Mike Morrissey. We would like to again express our interest in any of you who write such material submitting it for pub lication. We cannot pay anything, of course, but feel that there are a lot of people with literary talent who are not that interested in "selling” their creations and who might be quite willing to just share them with other readers of Soundings. We like to stress the Appala chian theme, but that is not a rigid restriction. Mary's poem, "Reach Out,” for example, is not aimed at Appalachia in particular, but it is quite in line with CAP’s philosophy of helping others to help themselves. Those are the kinds of themes we are interested in, because that is what Soundings, as a Christian Ap palachian Project publication, is really all about. So, if any of you would like to contribute some of your work to Soundings, and it is along the lines of CAP's philosophy, please feel free to do so. We'd be most happy to have it. We already have another poem from a young man in Washington, D. C., David Morrison, which will be in the June issue, and look forward to more from interested readers. 2
This month's Soundings is pri marily a “news” issue, with an at tempt to update everyone on the heavy schedule of activity going on at CAP as the always busy summer months rapidly approach. Next issue, for June, will be also a special issue with an in-depth coverage of where CAP came from, with per sonality profiles and background sketches on key staff members, and an idea of where CAP plans to go in the future. It will still contain, of course,literary material,another Part of Wilderness Road, selections from “When They Hanged the Fiddler,” etc., but we want it to be a kind of historical update on the Christian Appalachian Project, also. We intend to use it as an information source for individuals, agencies, and groups on just what CAP and Soundings is all about. We'd appreciate it if you all would give it maximum circu lation, spread it around among your friends and acquaintances, and see if we can't build up circulation some. I'll share a secret, okay, just between your regular readers and myself. Our circulation stays around 6000. It has stayed there for the past several years. I'd like to see it go on up there, and promise to keep you all informed as it grows. How about helping out, and giving us more exposure. Share in this effort, and you oan also share in the accom plishment. Thank you. I promised to establish a dialogue with readers when I started editing Soundings, and an early letter-to-the editor has gone too long unattended. A letter from Martha B. Sharpless of Ardmore, Penn sylvania last February has been eating
at my conscience. Martha, I promise, here and in writing, I will attend to your requests for information on the wrought-iron candle-snuffer and other items you asked about in the next issue. I will do it in S ou n din g^ k rather than in just a return letter that other interested readers can share in this information. I'm truly sorry, Martha, for not having re sponded earlier, but the press of events does get to us all. Jack Little Soundings Editor Christian Appalachian Project Lancaster, Kentucky 40446
In this Issue: Spring and the Old Editorial Bible Schools Summer Camping Programs Part II, Wilderness Road Lake Linville Summer Preschool Poem “Reach Out” Family Life Center Home Visit Program Classroom for Handicapped Street Preaching New Rummage Store Home Preschooling Program
p. 3 p. 4 p. 4 p. 5 p. 7 p. 10 p. 10 p. 11 p. 12 p. 13 p. 14 p. IS. p. 15 p. 16
Kentucky River
THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE CHRISTIAN APPALACHIAN PROJECT Chief Editor - Reverend Beiting Editor-Jack Little Production - Alton Bradley Typesetting - Jean Brown Kentucky River Soundings is published monthly b y the Christian Appalachian Project Kentucky River Soundings Lancaster, Kentucky 40446 Manuscripts, photographs and art work limited to Appalachian themes are invited. I Copyright 1978, The Christian Appalachian Project, A ll Rights Reserved.
CLIFFVIEW LODGE
Spring and
the Ol d
ELD ER LY ENJOY SPRING HOUSEBOAT TRIP
It seems a paradox, bu t i f there is anyone who enjoys the coming o f spring, it is the old. As new life begins to be made evident throughout nature, the elderly are frequently the ones to appreciate it most. We have found this to be true with the old people that we care for in our many programs here in Eastern, Kentucky. Whether it's with the older people who work in our “Attic" stores or whether it is with the ones we care for in their homes or those we take to doctors or clinics or those that we visit in rest homes, the added excite ment of spring can be found in their face. They are eager for the story of spring to unfold and enjoy the full joy of summer. We have already received numerous requests from the elderly that we hâve cared for in the past. When are we going to make another trip? When are we going to go on the houseboat again? £ W h e n are we going to get together ^ ^ v ith some of the other folks in the neighboring counties? The absence o f snow has made travel possible again. The outdoors is welcoming
one and all to come and enjoy the bounty o f God. The first group of the elderly were taken out on the houseboat on the first week in May and they enjoyed themselves immensely on the waters of the Cumberland Lake, one of the largest man-made lakes in the entire Appalachian area. Numerous other programs are being continued for the elderly. Re modeling of their houses is but one program. Acquiring such things as TV’s, radios, glasses, watches and other items that they need in order to make their last years a thing of joy and contentment is always part of our program. We hope to con tinue with this, and we are in des perate need o f additional personnel to p u t into this area so that more o f the elderly may be contacted and cared for. A t the present time we are able to only give one full time worker to this program and a couple o f part time workers. We need at least two and ideally three full time workers for this important world o f the elderly.
It seems only a short time ago that Herrington Lake was frozen and the boat dock was firmly en cased in ice. Snow barred the progress of any travels that led to and from the camp, but all that is now a thing of the past. Crocuses and daffodils as well as the young green grass are present on every side. With them have come volunteer workers and payed laborers to con tinue the process of renovation of the camp for work with the hand icapped. The work is now about 98% complete leaving only the prob lem of getting the handicapped from the top of the bank down to the dock so that they may more adequately and fully enjoy the water sports that are presently at Her rington Lake and Cliffview Lodge. We have had a number of groups utilizing the camp all during the month of April and May despite the fact that we were still in the process of renovation. It appears that we will have one o f the finest facilities in the entire central part o f the state o f Kentucky for the handi capped and retarded. We look forward to quite an exciting summer. Already a six week camping program has been set aside for the camp and the enrollments for it are coming in very rapidly. We are still in the process of recruiting volunteers for the counseling staff. An exciting part o f the summer program will also be a trip to Washington for the deaf children who will be utilizing the camp. Fifteen o f them will be making the trip to Washington under the di rection o f Rick O ’Connell, our Director o f Cliffview Lodge. They will be utilizing a Jay co M otor Home donated a couple o f years ago by the Jayco Corporation as well as a used van that CAP purchased earlier in the year. We are always excited about new things at Cliffview Lodge be cause Cliffview Lodge was the very first of the projects that have eventually grown into the CAP family of activities that serve the people of Eastern Kentucky.
3
Appalachia Today
Opinion Father Ralph Beiting
EDITORIAL From time to time all of our i |l | lives seem full of frustration and * unfulfilled dreams. We never seem to finish what we had planned, and the unexpected is frequently the norm for our daily lives. In his wisdom, I believe God has arranged the seasons of the year to give us a vision of what life is all about. The winter has been hard on us all. The cold, snow, isolationism and un fulfilled dreams are a part o f the months we have just finished. Yet there always comes the spring, the new beginning, the fresh life, the renewed vigor, the clarified dream. There seems to be with the coming of the first birds of spring and the first flowers that decorate the earth a renewed commitment to that which is uppermost in the heart and mind of men. Somehow we all seem convinced that great things can once more be done. We, here in the hills of Appalachia, who make up the Christian Appalachian Project family are like the rest of mankind. The winter has been a time of frustration and unfulfilled dreams. What we had thought would be accomplished somehow didn't all get done, but now with the coming of spring and the sun lighting up the earth once more, there is a renewed enthusiasm and vigor on the part of us all. In the course of this issue of the Soundings we would like to give to those of you who are our readers
4
an insight as to how we are turning the winter months of unfulfilled dreams into the springtime o f re newed activity and new programs. In the various articles there will be a constant progression of renewed zeal and we hope that this may not merely enlighten you about our activities, but also may in some small manner at least encourage all of you to look to God for the strength that comes from spring. Also, to recognize that even in the changing o f seasons He has given us another incentive to continue the struggle that will bring better things to this earth o f ours. BIBLE SCHOOLS To work with a child and only take care of his education or recreational needs may give him satisfaction, but it is not the full picture of what his life is all about. During the summer we make a special effort to acquaint the child with jpod in such a way that he develops a fondness for God that will remain with him in all of his activities during the rest of his life. Programs that involve great numbers of children in Bible Schools have been going on under our direction for more than twenty years. This summer there will be better than four hundred children involved in our Bible School programs. One of the wonderful qualities of our Bible Schools is the ecumen
ical character they possess. The children who come to these Bible Schools belong to almost every religion that is present in the area as well as great numbers who b elon c^ . to no religion at all. This in itse l^ P is a rather unique situation since most churches quite understandably concentrate on their children for the additional training in religion, but in our Bible Schools we have a great variety of religious heritages and backgrounds. We have been able to instill in them a knowledge and a love of God and the scriptures that is deep and real. Yet special attention is given to the fact that no one’s religious convictions are going to be neglected or overlooked or in any way contradicted. This is not always easy, but it has been one o f the outstanding accomplish ments o f our Bible Schools. This year starting on the first of July, our Bible Schools will be going on for two weeks in the different counties. Children from at least four separate counties will partici pate in this program. A staff of twelve people in each center will lead the programs. The childre^^ will be brought in between 9:0(^ ^ and 10:00 in the morning and will remain until around 2:30 in the afternoon at which time they are returned to their homes. Once again an attempt is made on the part of CAP to reach out and touch children of all backgrounds and instill a deep and sincere love of God into them, helping them to realize that it is not b y bread alone that a man lives, but b y every word that comes from the mouth o f God as well.
BIBLE SCHOOL CLASS
Summer
Campi ng
Programs
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LIFEGUARD AND YOUNG SWIMMERS AT CAMP A . J. The very first o f all the Christian Appalachian Project ac tivities in Eastern Kentucky after the rummage stores was the rec reation program aimed at the young. The young, of course, have always had a fascination for all of us. Their survival and maturing is the hope of all. If they can be guided into a fuller way of life, it is going to profit not merely them but suc ceeding generations as well. Cliffview Lodge was our first activity in this respect. A small portion of land was acquired on the shores of Herrington Lake in Garrard County some nine miles northwest of Lan caster and it has served for more than 20 years as a recreational activity for the young people of the area. We Constantly are meeting mature adults who tell us how much they appreciated and profited by their camping experience at Cliffview. In another article in this issue the summer camping program for Cliffview has been described. We feel that this will indeed be the most exciting year in all of Cliffview’s
colorful history. Camp Andrew Jackson in Jackson County, our principal camp to accept the young people of the
area, will be gearing for an enroll ment of sixty-five children per week for six and perhaps seven weeks. Despite the expansion of our camping program in other areas, the pressing demand for additional camps at Andrew Jackson mounts with each succeeding month. Miss Ellen Burke who has directed the camp for the last three years will once again be in charge of it this year. A number of improvements have been made at the camp during the year such as additional rec reational facilities, more storage area for the various materials used, etc. Improved trails and more hiking trips have been added to the already rather extensive schedule of the camp. Additional equipment has also been acquired to facilitate caring for this many young people. These young folks will come from through out Eastern Kentucky and will rep resent at least a dozen counties in the Appalachian area. Volunteers are still needed to staff this camp which will begin on the 25th o f
CANOEING INSTRUCTION AT CAMP 5
SHI <* __ Mwii
NOT BAD, WITH INSTRUCTORS ALONG June. The first three weeks of the camping season will be for boys and ¿|he final three weeks will be for '¿iris, with the possibility that due to p h e ever increasing demand, a fourth ffweek may be added to this. Survival Camp - One of the difficult groups for us and other organizations to reach in Eastern Kentucky are the maturing young boys of the area. Once they get to be thirteen or fourteen years old, manhood seems to be an accom plished fact with them. They feel they are no longer children and they are now adults. They frequently do not respond to the normal programming that was geared to help them in the maturing process of growing older. We have felt that it was necessary to add a new di mension to our camping facilities in order to captivate the interest and attention of these young people. One of these areas has been the establishment of a new camping program. This year we will see two we&ks of survival camping. The first week will begin on 18th of June and go on for one entire week. There will then be a week period to readjust to the schedule and the second week will begin on the 1st of July and go for one week. Each week there will be a dozen boys plus four counselors accompanying them on this survival type of camping. They will be living in the Daniel Boone National Forest and concentrating their efforts on the wild waters Of the Rockcastle River which separates 6
Rockcastle and Laurel County. They will sleep in sleeping bags and small two man tents, prepare their own food and utilize the woods them selves as their camping facility. It is an exciting new venture fo r us, and that demands the very best o f the boys ’ cooperation and partic ipation. We feel that it is going to give them an added sense o f their own value as well as the appreciation o f their dependence on their fellow campers. For the first time they will be the major ones taking care o f themselves. They won't be waited on as in a normal camping situation. They will now be the ones preparing their own food, pitching their own tents, getting themselves ready for whatever weather sends them in the course of their week. The extended trip on thehousei w a —'Hiiifl m
boat, Daniel Boone, is another one of the major efforts being made to reach the fourteen, fifteen and six teen year old boys who have again i not responded to the normal camping^ activities that we have had in the past. Over a thousand miles o f traveling will be done on the boat during the entire month o f July. The trip will take the boys from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky in Lee County down through the Bluegrass area and finally into the Ohio River Valley at Carrollton. They will then proceed north on the Ohio River to Cincinnati. A new group of boys will be brought on board there and the second and final leg of the trip will be made from Cincinnati to Cairo, Illinois where the Ohio ends it journey by emptying into the Mississippi River. The trips will begin from Beattyville, Kentucky on Sunday, July 1 and end in Cincinnati on Friday, July 13. The second leg will begin from Cincinnati on Sunday, July 15 and end on Saturday, July 27 at Cairo, Illinois. We have had the enthusiastic . support o f a number o f organizations \ assisting us in this rather ambitious camping program. Flags have been sent b y the Governor o f the State as well as our Senators in Wash ington, Senator Wendell Ford and Senator Dee Huddleston, and our Representative in Congress, Dr. Tim
Cont’d on page 11 Èsamm
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IN SURVIVAL CAMP, TH EY'LL BE MORE ON THEIR OWN
P a r t II. W i l d e r n e s s PART II THE WILDERNESS ROAD Chapter 4 THE ROAD GROWS James Harrod, another native of Pennsylvania, came to the Ken tucky lands early. Coming down the Ohio River, he proceeded up the Kentucky until he came to Landing Creek near Oregon, Ken tucky. From there he proceeded overland to the Salt River where he founded the community known as Harrodsburg. He preceded Boone by nearly tw o months in establishing the first settlement in Kentucky. Benjamin Logan was a pros perous farmer from along the Holston River in Virginia. He had come along Boone's road together with Col. Henderson. The two men never really got along and despite Henderson's invitation to go with him to Boonesborough, Logan left the main road at Hazel Patch on the Rockcastle River. He followed a trail named after three Irish hunters, the Skaggs, and headed west. After a few miles he left the trail and followed a buffalo path which led him to Great Spring. He pitched camp here and decided to stay and stake out a claim on the fertile land that surrounded him. This settle ment was at first called St. Asaph. Before long, the name was changed to Logan's Fort. In the following years when the Indians were un successful in their attempts to cap ture the fort, they called the place Standing Fort which was shortened over the years to its present name of Stanford. Due to the pressure of Indian attacks on these first forts, the road Logan had laid out to Stanford was extended another twenty or more miles to Harrodsburg. The three major settlements in Kentucky were now connected to the Eastern colonists by the feeble thread of the Wilderness Road. Across this road came the exciting
news that the colonies had declared their independence from Great Britain. The first American flag was brought to Boonesborough by means of the Wilderness Road. The joy of learning that they were now an independent people was tempered by the attacks made on the settlements by the English and their Indian allies. They now faced a life and death struggle for survival. Messengers were quickly sent back to the east for reinforce ments and ammunition. Their speedy arrival in Virginia and a quick trip back were essential if the frontiersmen were to endure. The Wilderness Road made this necessity a reality. One of the great pioneers who used the road to defend the life of the infant settlements was George Rogers Clark, older brother of William who joined with Merriwether Lewis in exploring the Lou isiana Purchase. Clark made a num ber of trips to Virginia obtaining supplies and munitions from the Virginia Legislature. Clark was an extremely far sighted individual who realized that the best defense against the British and their Indian allies was a strong offense. He planned a daring attack into the very heartland o f the enemy. Vincennes and D etroit fell before his dramatic leadership. In order to reach the falls on the Ohio River, Clark pushed the road from Har rodsburg to the settlem ent he founded on the banks o f the Ohio. The tow n was later named Louisville. The Wilderness Road now reached up through Cumberland Gap till it came to Hazel Patch where the original road lead to Boones borough and then to the new settle-, ment of Lexington. The western branch left Hazel Patch and went to Stanford, Danville and Harrodsburg. From there it continued on to Louisville. All the major settlements in Kentucky were now connected to the east by the Wilderness Road. Without the help made possible by
Road this road the English would have overrun all the Kentucky posts. The entire course of the Revolutionary War could have been quite different had it not been for this most im portant road. It is quite conceivable that the western limits o f the United States would have been the Appalachian mountains, and the frontiers o f English Canada w ould have encom passed all the Ohio River Valley and stretched to the G ulf o f Mexico. The road, however, was there, and eventually enabled A merica to reach from coast to coast. Chapter 5 THE G U ARDIAN OF THE ROAD From the very beginning Daniel Boone had used the Warrior's Path of the Indians as part of the Wilder ness Road. A t no time was the road very far from the Warrior's Path. The natural enmity of the Indians for the white man, the resentment they felt over losing their land, and instigation by the English all conspired to make travel on the road a hazardous journey. Even when the Revolutionary War ended, the danger from Indian attacks did not stop entirely. While the Shawnee lessened their attacks, the momentum was picked up by the Chickamauga and renegade Cherokees from the Lower Tennessee River Valley. One man more than any other developed a deep love for the road. In a very real sense it became his road. Woe behold any one who threatened the road or its travelers. His name was Col. William Whitley. Whitley was born August 14, 1749 in Augusta County, Virginia. He had been in the company of Henderson on that first trip over the Wilderness Road. He split with Henderson at Hazel Patch and fol lowed Logan on the western branch
7
of the road. He stopped about eight It was so pretentious that many miles short of Stanford and three called it the Governor's House. miles west of Crab Orchard. He Important Guests were entertained at the home, but ordinary travelers staked out a claim for himself there. were equally welcome. Today it is Because of the war, however, he a state shrine. was unable to bring his family to During the war o f 1812, Gov live on the land until 1779. ernor Shelby o f K entucky asked for With the return of peace, volunteers. Whitley, although he Whitley built himself a log station ivas 64 years old, volunteered and which soon became a favorite w as accepted as a Private. H e joined stopping place on the road for travelers from Virginia. Whitley forces under Col. Richard Johnson and marched against the greatest o f called his land “Sportsman Hill” all the Indian leaders, Tecumseh. because of the race track he built The final battle took place nearby. His hatred fo r the English was so great that he laid out the along the Thames. Whitley was course to run in the opposite direc one of twenty men to make a des tion from the English tracks. This perate charge against the position practice is now follow ed b y all the held by Tecumseh. When the firing race tracks in the United States. had ceased, both Tecumseh and Whenever a raid took place on Whitley were dead. Some ey e w it the road, Whitley was the first man nesses claimed that a shot from to be notified. He would quickly Whitley had killed him. gather a group of neighbors and The old warrior was dead and head in swift pursuit. peace had come at last to the road. Frequently, Whitley was able Perhaps nothing could express the to recapture some of the hopeless \ character of Whitley so w ell as the victims. If he found them dead, he j inscription he carved on his powder horn: followed the Indians until he caught them, when quick reprisal was made. | Wm. Whitley I am your horn The greatest tragedy that took ■ The truth I love, a Lie I scorn place on the road occurred to the | Fill me with the best of powder McNitt party on October 3, 1786. j I'll make your Rifle crack the louder Thirty people were traveling the See how the dread terrific Ball road and camped near London, Make Indians bleed and Tories fall. Kentucky at the site of the present You with power I'll supply day Levi Jackson State Park. A For to defend your Liberty. band of Chickamauga Indians fell on the camp during the night. Chapter 6 Twenty-one persons were killed and scalped, five women were taken THE ROAD BY THE END prisoner and four escaped. OF THE CENTURY Whitley pursued the Indians as far south as Tennessee and Georgia When Daniel Boone led the and as far north as Ohio and Indiana. first group of men over the Wilder He accompanied General George ness Road, they numbered thirty. Rogers Clark on three o f his expe In a matter of weeks, a flood of ditions against the Indians. He travelers from Virginia and North joined Benjamin Logan on numerous Carolina began to use the road. other expeditions. After Clark had Soldiers, homesteaders, hunters, taken Detroit and captured Col. traders, women and children all Hamilton, the British Commander, participated in the westward trek. he took him back to Virginia but The primary recipient o f all this spent the night with Whitley as they traffic was the new territory of traveled the road. Kentucky. In the beginning, the In 1792 Whitley began con Kentucky territory was a part of struction on the first brick house Virginia. As the settlers increased west of the Appalachian Mountains. in number, the Virginia House of It was a fine tw o story house that Burgesses made the territory Ken dominated that section o f the road. tucky County. A few years later, 8
the large tract was divided into Lincoln, Jefferson and Fayette Counties. By 1792, the territory of Ken tucky was accepted as a full state in the Federal Union. Only Ver mont had preceded it in its union with the Thirteen Original Colonies. When Isaac Shelby was selected as K entucky's first governor on June 1, 1792, there were 100,000 people living in the land. For such progress to be made in less than tw en ty years in the face o f war, Indian attacks and such rugged country was a tribute to the effectiveness o f this road and the men w ho created and defended it. With the presence o f so large a group of people, it was natural that the first request made by the new governor to the federal govern ment was for a Federal Mail Service to be run over the Wilderness Road. There was a deep hunger for news from the folks back on the Eastern slopes of the Allegheny Mountains. The federal government granted permission and the first mail service to the west was underway. The Wilderness Road was the artery that brought this service to the frontier. The service, however, did not prove to be as great a blessing as it sounds at first hearing. Sometimes only two deliveries of mail took place in the course of the year. But when the outriders came in with the mail, they were heartily welcomed. N ot only had they brought the welcome news from home, but they them selves were traveling newspapers, passing on bits of news and gossip from one frontier settlement to another. Tension arose, however, for a better postal service and in the hope that service would be improved the mail delivery was stopped on Wilder ness Road and routed down the Ohio River. This route, however, proved so haphazard that if one delivery o f mail a year was made, it was fortunate. Eventually the Con gress approved both mail routes, and the Wilderness Road once again was bringing news of the Eastern Sea board to the Wilderness and news from the wilderness back to the population centers of the east.
Another significant develop ment took place under the leadership of Governor Isaac Shelby in 1796. that year he advertised for the widening, extension and straight ening of Boone's Trace, the road made by Daniel Boone into the country in 1774. Daniel himself applied for the task of widening the road, but he was not awarded this contract. The contract was given instead of tw o other men, Colonel James Knox and Colonel Joseph Crocket. They received a sum of 2,000 pounds to widen the road and shorten it wherever it seemed feasible. Their particular area of responsibility was from Cumberland Gap to Crab Orchard, a distance of nearly 100 miles. When they completed their task, the road had left the original Boone's Trace in several places and assumed an identity of its own. From this time on the road was to be know n simply as Wilderness R oad and w ould retain that name until eventually m odem progress brought in new roads. The road was completed, and tfj^by October 15,1796 advertisements - w e r e sent out through the Kentucky Gazette, a newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky, that the road was now opened to traffic and could accom modate wagons weighing as much as a ton. It was also possible for four horses to go on the road abreast. With the coming o f the 19th century the road had perform ed miracles for the growing nation. Over 250,000 people had used the road in its first 25 years. K en tucky was the first recipient o f this mass migration, bu t the road also sent settlers to Missouri and the land beyond the Mississippi R iver as w ell as to the territories o f Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The young nation was secure and on its way to great expansion. Perhaps nothing was more respon sible for this successful expansion than the Wilderness Road. m
Chapter 7
I f these adventurers have little or nothing to eat it is not an extraordinary circumstance and FOR HUMANS - THE WORST not uncommon to encamp in ROAD ON THE CONTINENT the w e t w oods after night. In the mountains it does n ot rain With the improvements com bu t pours. pleted on the road, heavier traffic I, too, have m y sufferings per came along. There was an increasing haps peculiar to myself, pain need for inns to accommodate the and temptation, the one o f the travelers. Up till now they had to" body and the other o f the prepare their own meals along the spirit. N o room to retire to way and sleep at night in whatever bu t that in which y o u can sit shelter they could find. common to all crow ded with The early inns provided meals wom en and children. The fire of a sort, cramped sleeping accom occupied b y cooking, much modations and in some places even and long loved solitude not to food for the horses. Usually a be found unless yo u choose to family would build themselves a run out into the rain in the home and set aside one or two woods. The people it must be rooms for the travelers on the road. confessed are among the kind Many people had to sleep together est in the world, bu t kindness in the same room and frequently in w ill not make a crowded log the same bed.. It was not always a cabin 12 fe e t b y 10 agreeable; pleasant experience, but it was without, cold and rain, and better than trusting to the wilds of within, six adults and as many the countryside and to the rigors of children one o f which is all the weather. motion. ” One o f the more renowned The Bishop concluded his account travelers on the Wilderness R oad with the painful remarks: was the famous M ethodist preacher, ‘T found amongst m y other Bishop Francis Asbury. He toured trials that I had taken the itch all the missions in the new frontier and considering the filthy on horseback, and for over forty houses and the filth y beds I have m et w ith in coming from years he reviewed the progress of the Methodist churches in the new the K entucky conference it is nation. Frequently he was on the perhaps strange that I have not Wilderness Road, traveling back and caught it tw en ty times. I do forth through Kentucky to the other not see that there is any parts of the frontier. He stayed in security against it, but b y sleeping in a brimstone shirt. ” a number of inns and became quite an expert on the road. In his journal, > N ot all travelers on the road were as honorable as the good recorded in 1803, the Bishop had Bishop. Many an innkeeper like this to say about the Wilderness Road: John Farris, Sr., who operated a “Certainly the w orst road on tavern in Rockcastle County, had the whole continent even in to contend with robbers, thiefs and murderers. You never knew when the best weather; y e t bad as it was, there was four or five an act of kindness to a stranger hundred people crossing the might prove to be your undoing. nude hills whilst w e were. A Many a traveler after befriending man w ho is w ell mounted w ill a fellow traveler was robbed and scorn to complain o f the roads, murdered by the one he assisted. when he sees men, wom en and But the taverns and inns were children almost naked battling a great blessing to most of the bare fo o t and bare legged along travelers on the road. The latch or laboring up the rocky hills string was always out. When whilst those who are best o ff travelers rode up to the inn, hallooed have only a horse fo r tw o or and asked to stay the night, they three children to ride a t once. were greeted with the cheery order 9
"Get down and rest your saddle." In March of 1797, Governor Garrard of K entucky officially made the Wilderness Road a toll road. More money was needed to maintain the road which suffered under the added weight o f the traffic. In the beginning there was only one toll gate in Kentucky and it was located at the great bend of the Cumberland
New CAP
River near the present city of Pineville, Kentucky. A gentleman by the name of Robert Craig was appointed the first tollgate keeper. The rates set for the tollgate were 9 pence for all persons, 9 pence for a horse, mule or mare, 3 shillings for a carriage with tw o wheels, 6 shillings for one with 4 wheels, and
Activity Lake
Outside of the city of Mt. Vernon which is the county seat of Rockcastle County, the interstate cuts through two hills and crosses Renfro Creek. In the process of highway construction, when the hills were lowered a dam was made and impounded the water of Renfro Creek, a sizeable lake was formed. The lake stretches fo r over a mile and a half back from the dam and spreads out into several large fingers as well as following along the main body o f the creek. Over the years the city of Mt. V en on and the county has added certain facilities to the lake such as a boat landing ramp and put up a shelter house as well as a bath house for campers. They have leased out the facility, to a number of individuals hoping that this would result in making the lake available to the local citizens. Many things have conspired against the success of the facilities at Lake Linville and the private individuals have been unable to make a profit and, therefore, have been unable to continue their activity. Some four or five such individuals in the past ten years have come and gone and the city was looking for someone to take over the responsibilities of the lake and furnish all the things that they had hoped would benefit the people of the area. CAP, with its interest in fur nishing as much help to the local community and people as possible, has decided to take on the respon sibility of managing and directing the activities at Lake Linville for the 10
3 pence for each head of meat cattle going eastward. Post riders, ex presses, women and children under ten years were allowed to pass free. As the years w ent on, d e s p it^ ^ the condition of the road, as m u c h ly traffic was going east as coming west. Commerce was not an im portant part of the road's life.
Linville
next year. I f this proves to be beneficial to the people in the county, we will continue perhaps indefinitely. An extensive program has already been put into operation to beautify the grounds. Debris and trash had accumulated rather se verely and had to be removed. All the buildings needed to be painted both inside and out. All the signs were in various stages of old age and needed renovation badly. New gravel for the parking lot and additional facilities for the camping area were all needed. CAP has brought in a trailer for the manager of the camp grounds to live in so that there will be someone who will be personally present on the grounds at all times. The new facility opened up on April 1 and will be open to the public until November 1. Such activities as fishing, boating,camping, swimming and a bathing beach will be available throughout the sur rounding area as well as hiking and camping. Various other forms of recreation are being contemplated by the city such as lighted ball diamonds, tennis courts and basket ball courts. It is hoped that before the year is completed these activities will also be ready for use. Once again it is an exciting new venture fo r CAP to work in cooperation with the city and county gov ernment. We hope that the ac tivities at Lake Linville will result in the improved style o f life fo r all the people o f the area, and provide a number o f jobs fo r local people.
At the present time, three preschool centers are operated by CAP. One is located in Appalachian Village in Berea, another at the Sunshine Center in Lancaster and^^ the final one is the Little World^P Center at Stanford. Two of these three centers will be kept in op eration all during this summer. They will work not merely with the pre school child but with some o f the children who are already in school. We have found that such a program brings out much that is good. The children seemingly look upon this experience during the summer as not really school. By that I mean that they find an excitement in this type of educational environment that they did not normally get from their regular school work. They look forward to going to this summer school. There are many ex citing little things that the normal school year does not allow them to have that can be worked into a summer schedule. We have experienced so much in the way of encouragement from this program that we are continuing it again this year. Both the cen tei^ h at Lancaster and the one at Stanford^^ will be operating during the course of the summer.
Cont’d from page 6 Carter. Their kind words of appre ciation for the trip and their willingness to donate flags for the trip !have warmed our hearts and have encouraged us in our enterprise. Additional support has come from many segments of the industry who are helping us with the expenses incurred by such a trip. We feel that the recreational aspect of the trip is perhaps one of the minor fruits that will come from this type of camping experience. The knowl edge that they will learn of their own state as well as the nation as a whole should be of invaluable as sistance in developing their own pride. Their realization o f what others have accomplished in the past, made graphic b y this trip, should spur them on to great ac complishments in their own lifetime. They will get a first hand appre ciation of nature. There will also be a considerable process not merely of the history of the area, but of the nature of the water. They will learn how to handle a boat, how to ^overcome the problems that will ^result from living fairly much along the waterways and being cut off from the many nicities o f modern life. They will learn how to depend on one another. Hopefully, a deepening religious sensitivity will be stirred as they will see the wonders of creation as sketched out by these two great rivers in our history, the Kentucky and the Ohio. Their dependence and need on their fellow human beings will certainly be an aspect of this and we think it will be very important. A ll in all, our summer activities are the m ost ambitious o f any we have ever experienced in the years prior to this. We will be involving far more children than we have at any time in our past. We still are in need of the support necessary to make all of these camping activities come about, both from financial contributions .as well as the necessary volunteers Fwho help in the counseling of the young people. Prayers are always a necessity for any enterprise that hopes to do good and we are in great need of these.
REACH OUT When someone we know is in terrible pain, Do we ask God to restore them whole once again? Are we there when w e ’re needed or too busy to care, When they reach out, do they fin d only thin air? Are we concerned fo r the well-being o f others? Under the skin we all really are brothers. L e t’s look:around us today, And hear what others are trying to say. Some are lonely, with no one to care, Others have plenty o f time to spare. There’s the elderly, sick and alone, Ask them to share our hearth and our home. Millions are starving, hungry and cold, Others with gold that bags cannot hold. Somewhere tonight som ebody’s in sorrow, Go to them now, d o n ’t wait fo r tomorrow. As each o f us go our own special way, L e t’s take time, reach out, and say: Here I am, yo u can lean on me, Draw from m y strength, and soon yo u ’l l be, Able to stand alone once again, As we join together, hand in hand. No one knows the day, the hour or minute, That we ’ll have a need and be unable to fill it. Oh! Please God, make us more aware, That love was made for others, to share. Mary M. Domstead 425 N. 19th St. Duncan, Oklahoma
HOUSEBOAT "DANIEL BOONE" FOR LONG RIVER TRIP
FAMILY
LIFE
C E N T E R OF APPALACHIA existing agencies in the counties it was fe lt that the overwhelming need was still fo r a home for boys. They apparently had more problems adjusting to adult life than did the girls. CAP has decided to respond to the actual needs of the area and so the new foster home will be one for boys. There will be, however, a younger group of boys accepted at the new home than is at the Foster Home for Boys at Camp Nelson. The boys that will be accepted in the new Foster Home will be those that are thirteen, fourteen and fifteen years of age. The construc tion has already begun on the foundation of this building and the contractor feels that the building will be ready by the first of August. The first boys will be taken by August 2 0 in preparation for school year starting a t the end o f ^ August. Another shelter house and play ground area has already seen con struction begin and the completion date on this third shelter house and all the recreational activities is June 1. This all adds up to a rather ambitious program that promises a great number of advantages for family life during the course of the entire summer and year as well.
CAP EXECU TIVE DIRECTOR MIKE MCLAUGHLIN (left) AND HU MAN DEVELOPMENT Dl RECTOR JA C K MORRIS (center) CONFER AT CONSTRUCTION SITE of the Center which will also serve With the coming of the good as an information Center for all the weather the progress on the buildings activities at the Family Life Facility. at our Family Life Center o f Appa The building should be completed lachia at Renfro Valley, Kentucky some time near the first o f June so has literally leaped forward. The that the Director may be able to live addition on the motel that serves on the grounds when the first major as the living facilities for weekend summer activities begin. retreats for family life was completed Plans have now been definitely on Easter Sunday. The addition decided upon fo r the Foster Home makes it now possible fo r a group for the young people o f the area. as large as sixty-five to be accom Originally it was thought that such modated for meetings and fo r dining. a facility should be fo r girls, but While the facilities are still inad after a survey was taken o f all the equate for the full eventual needs of the center, they nevertheless enable us to get started on a very important area of human need. The addition on to the main facilities at the center and two outdoor shelter houses have now been com pleted. Each of these measure 35 x 50 ft. and they will serve for shelters for all the coming summer activities at the Family Life Center. Already several large family reunions have been scheduled and various other forms of outdoor activities for the young people and their families of the area are contemplated. Work has progressed rather rapidly on our FAM ILY L IF E DIRECTOR LEN SPANGLER (center) AND JACK residence for the Assistant Director MORRIS (right)CONFER AT MOTEL ANNEX SITE
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Home
Visitatation Prog ram
With the coming of May, one of the major activities that works its way into our schedule is the, visiting of the homes of the people in our area. While this program begins in May, it continues on a regular basis all during the summer. It is our hope and goal to reach every home in a three county area. This is a tremendous undertaking for us, but it is fulled with so much that is worthwhile. The friendship that comes from visiting our neighbors is something that one does not easily forget. It is a cherished memory for all the year. In addition, it informs us of the needs of the people. There is no finer way of knowing what the real needs are than by speaking to all the people who live in the area. Another advantage coming from such a program is the op portunity we have of informing them of the various programs that we have in operation at the present
HOME VISITATION, TH EY'RE SO GLAD TO S EE YOU COME time. One of our major objectives is to inform them of our summer activities. The Bible Schools, camps and other recreational programs are for them. We also let them know
ANOTHER HOME VISITATION, AND A LL APPRECIATE IT
of the rummage stores where they can obtain used clothing and house hold items at a very minimal cost. We also tell them of our programs for the handicapped, for the elderly and for those who are in,need of medical transportation. More than tw enty people will be involved in such a program during the course o f the summer. Then it will be follow ed up by our permanent sta ff doing it on a se lective basis after the summer is over. This year, however, we shall be faced with an added difficulty. The rising price of gasoline and its possible shortage will be a severe trial for us. In an area as vast as Appalachia where people are so scattered and live great distances from each other the necessity of travel is an ever present problem. This year with the added expense o f gasoline and the possibility o f gas oline n o t being available, we face indeed a very serious problem. We feel, however, that the contact with the people is so essential that we must overcome whatever difficulties lie in the way.
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M—W M m m sns We are at the present time waiting to see if the community is going to receive a grant to adequately care for the preschool children of the county. If such a grant is forthcoming, the program will be able to begin in August. If the grant is not realized, then additional fund raising will have to be done on the part of CAP to sustain the program and to get it into operation. It is hoped that such additional funding will be possible through private sources and that the classes will begin in September. The building is an attractive brick struc ture that fits in well with the century old educational building that is next door. \ m
NEW CLASSROOM BUILDING, JUST COMPLETED With each passing month we at CAP become more and more aware of the large number of handicapped and partially retarded young people who live in our mountain com munity. They have too often been secluded and hidden and, as a consequence, very little has been done to improve their lot. Through various programs that CAP has initiated in the course o f the past year, more and more of these people are coming to our attention. It was with this in mind that we began last fall the construction o f a small schoolhouse that would have three classrooms in it to care fo r the handicapped preschool child. The building is located next to an old brick building that had served the educational needs of Lincoln County since the days of the Civil War. The building has now been com pleted and had its official opening during the middle of May.
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CENTURY-PLUS OLD EDUCATIONAL BUILDING IN BACKGROUND OF CAP’S NEW STRUCTURE
Street
Preaching
TYPICAL STR EET PREACHING SCENE FOR ALMOST 30 YEA R S For nearly thirty years Father ^ fe e itin g has been involved in preach^ i n g out in the open about God and his ways. This endeavor has taken him into every county in Eastern Kentucky's Appalachian area. This year will prove no exception to this rule. Starting on June 15 he, to gether with a group of six young ■men, will head out from Lancaster and go into the Prestonsburg and Floyd County area and stay there for one week. After that they will move farther to the east into Pike County and have a second week of street preaching. Due to the other activities of the summer the period dedicated to street preaching this year will be limited to two weeks. During the course of the street preaching, besides the preaching itself, the young men who accom pany Father Beiting will sing many of the favorite religious songs of the area. In the evenings when it grows dark, the program will conclude with a movie. Usually the movie is any wholesome movie that can be obtained. It is not necessarily a religious movie. A ny good movie serves well to illustrate that G od’s
ways are to be found in all the wholesome activities o f life. This program is probably the only such program going on through out the country at the present time. It is hoped this year that seminarians from various protestant theological schools will be able to join Father Beiting in this activity. The street preaching crew lives in campers and trailers in the various counties where they work. Being totally self con tained, they are able to fix their own meals, furnish their own living accommodations and a base for their work. The added excitem ent o f the ecumenical presence this year is something we are all looking for ward to. NEW RUMMAGE STORE IS COMPLETED After months of bad weather followed by the spring rain, the rummage store has been completed at Stanford, Kentucky. It, like all the other rummage stores operated by CAP, goes under the name of the “Attic.” The building is one of the largest set aside by CAP for
this particular purpose. It will have not merely a large display area for the used clothing items that are sent in by the benefactors of CAP from throughout the country, but we will have a large storage area as well. Storage is frequently one of the more difficult problems with the used clothing enterprises. Often the clothing that is sent is for the season that has just passed. It is difficult to use winter clothes in the summer and we need to store these items until the season returns when they can be used. The store at Stanford will have a secondary blessing for the people of the area. That blessing will be that it will be able to utilize the handicapped and the partially im paired adults that are in the com munity. Comprehensive Care has a partial hospitalization program for these adults on the property where the new “Attic” is located. Part o f their rehabilitation will consist o f paying them for their work at the rummage store. We feel that this will result in new enthusiasm and vitality fo r the adults as well as making it possible for more o f the clothing to be adequately displayed and prepared fo r the po o r o f the area. This store has its grand opening the last week in April and we are looking forward to being of great assistance to the community in Lincoln County through the store. •
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£ O' % When one speaks of the handi capped in preschool, we normally contemplate a center in which the children come each day, where they are cared for and trained in the various skills suited to their age. We at CAP have devised a program whereby this procedure is reversed. Instead o f the children coming to the school we bring the school to the children and their parents. Miss Marilyn Stefanski, a volunteer worker for CAP for the past six years, has been hired to assume leadership of this program. She recently received her Master’s Degree from the Uni
t 6, C,
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versity of Kentucky in work with the handicapped on the preschool level. The whole philosophy behind this program is that the parents are frequently the best teachers a child ever has and this especially is true o f those children who are handi capped in one way or another. Our program at the present time involves fifteen families. Once a week each of these families is visited and at times several hours are spent with each giving the parents the insight into programs that should be ini tiated for the child. The parent is
also taught how to respond to the various needs the child has. The parent then takes this training as well as the enthusiasm o f the visit and works with the child during the course of the entire week. We feel that such a program is ideally suited for this particular group of children and we have al ready begun to see some rather amazing results come about as a consequence of this program. It will continue all during the course o f this summer and fall and we hope that we will be able to expand this program into a couple o f additional counties as well.
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