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The
Big Sandy
CAROL CROWE-CARRACO
Research for The Kentucky Bicentennial Bookshelf is assisted by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Views expressed in the Bookshelf do not necessarily represent those of the Endowment.
Copyright 1979 by The University Press of Kentucky
Paperback edition 2009
The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-8131-9272-7 (pbk: acid-free paper)
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
| Member of the Association
of American University Presses |
Contents
Illustrations follow
For Bob, who taught me to love Kentucky
Preface
THE BIG SANDY is a river and a watershed and a place where yesterday, today, and tomorrow exist together in haunting harmony. While the Big Sandy River and its Levisa and Tug forks drain parts of West Virginia and Virginia, this work is concerned primarily with the rivers role in the history of Kentucky. Lying in the easternmost section of the state, the Big Sandy River Valley encompasses the Kentucky counties of Boyd, Floyd, Johnson, Lawrence, Martin, and Pike and the eastern edges of Magoffin, Knott, and Letcher. Life in the valley has been somewhat like the fickle riveralways changing, filled with upsets, surprises, disappointments, and occasional pleasures.
The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to give, within the limitations of a compact format, an accurate account of the history of Kentuckys Big Sandy River Valley; and second, to acquaint the general public with the development of a part of eastern Kentucky too long the subject of stereotypical generalizations. It is hoped that the scope of this study will give every reader some information, a modicum of entertainment, and a partial understanding of a fascinating region of Kentucky.
While many Big Sandians have unselfishly shared their knowledge of eastern Kentucky with me, a few must be singled out for particular thanks. The late Wallace Williamson III gave much encouragement to a non-Kentuckian by birth, and a brought-on to boot, in the research and writing of this work. Nora and Henry Scalf opened their home and their extensive collection of Big Sandy materials to me. Harry Campbell and Dave Zegeer kindly arranged a tour of underground and surface mine sites. Julius Mullins graciously granted me hours of conversation on the eve of the 1977 United Mine Workers of America-Bituminous Coal Operators Association (UMWA-BCOA) contract negotiations.
The librarians at the Kentucky Library of Western Kentucky University and at the University of Kentucky libraries and the staff at Alice Lloyd College have been extremely helpful. The Louisville and Huntington districts of the Corps of Engineers and the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals have shared their extensive records. Lyn Adams, Ron Daley, Sam Johnson, John Preston, Leonard Roberts, Jean Stephenson, Jerry Sutphin, and a host of others have shared their time and expertise with me. The Western Kentucky University Faculty Research Committee extended the financial assistance that made much of my travel in the Big Sandy Valley possible. My husband Bob Carraco and colleagues Nancy Baird and David Lee offered much encouragement. I wish also to express my great obligation and sincere appreciation to Professor Lowell Harrison for his patient assistance and persistent prodding, without which this work would never have been completed.
1
THROUGH A RIVER THRESHOLD
Roll on forever, Sandy waters roll!
Jesse Stuart, Leaves from
Plum Grove Oak
WITH THE BIG SANDY River Valley of Kentucky as our destination, B.C. and I left my familys northeast Georgia home and wound our way up the southern Appalachian chain to Blacksburg, Virginia. While such a route was a roundabout way for two central Kentuckians to reach the eastern section of the commonwealth, we wanted to start out near the headwaters of the Sandy where many of the areas first explorers and settlers began. Thus Blacksburg, once the Drapers Meadow where Shawnee captured pioneer heroine Mary Ingles, serves the modern traveler admirably as a jumping-off point.
