109 



Changing Conditions in the Kentucky Mountains. 



B. 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. 



TOPOGKAPHY AND SUBROUNDINGS." 



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- 

 hinds. 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 de'ep 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. 



