109 
CHANGING CONDITIONS IN THE KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS. 
Bb. H. SCHOCKEL. 
(Illustrations by the author.) 
This summary of changing conditions in the plateau of eastern Ken- 
tucky is based upon a month’s field work, supplemented by previous and 
subsequent studies. To refresh the reader’s general conception of the 
region an introductory review is made of its topography, surroundings, and 
settlement. 
TOPOGRAPHY AND SURROUNDINGS. 
Eastern Kentucky is a part of the Cumberland Plateau and consists of 
thirty-five counties with an area of some 12,943 square miles, that is, about 
one-third of Kentucky. It is a part of the Southern Appalachian High- 
lands. To the east of it are the parallel ridges and valleys of the Greater 
Valley of the Appalachians; to the west is the Blue Grass region. The top 
of the plateau is a part of the Cretaceous Peneplain, with monadnocks on 
it, and slopes gently westward in Kentucky from an elevation of about 
2,000 feet to a height of 1,200 to 1,500 feet. This peneplain has been dis- 
sected by dendritic drainage to a topographic stage of maturity, the valleys 
being from 500 to 800 feet deep with narrow bottom lands, and the tops of 
the ridges averaging in many instances from 10 to 50 feet in width. The 
ridges, locally known as mountains, in general bear on their shoulders and 
crests hardwood forests sprinkled with conifers. Most of the lower slopes 
are cleared. From the top of Pine Mountain the Kentucky country 
appears to be a billowy wilderness. One cannot see any valleys, nor any 
sign of life; but beneath those forested waves are sylvan slopes to 
enchant one, and a sinister labyrinth of gashed valleys to enthrall one in 
mountain poverty. 
Owing to the topography the roads are serpentine; since the bed rock 
is of shale and friable sandstone chiefly, good road material is scarce; 
furthermore, the people are poor, and what we term shiftless and ignorant; 
therefore, their highways are in a most wretched condition. 
