112 



But between 1S30 and 1S50 the four interstate roads declined gradually 

 to a wretched condition and state of non-use ; for the Blue Grass and Ohio 

 regions were finding other routes to market, by use of steamboats, etc. 

 Therefore, the mountain counties lost their market and received little out- 

 side help for roads. As a result the people have lived isolated by topog- 

 raphy and social antipathy. 



During the Civil War thousands of the mountaineers, whose ancestors 

 had fought in the Revolution and the War of 1812. joined the Union army 

 and received a practical education. Some received similar training as 

 soldiers of the South. After the war many returned home. But the growth 

 of formal education and broader outlook thus stimulated has been slow. 



In 1878, Shaler, of the Kentucky Geological Survey, saw in the eastern, 

 and then most inaccessible portion of the region, men hunting squirrels 

 and rabbits with old English "short-bows" and wrote : "'These were not 

 the contrivances of boys of today but were made and strung, and the 

 arrows hefted, in the ancient manner. The men. some of them old, were 

 admirably skilled in their use; they assured me that, like their fathers 

 before them, they had ever used the bow and arrow for small game, reserv- 

 ing the costly ammunition of the rifle for the deer and bear.'* 



Recently outside capital has begun to develop the coal and timber 

 resources of the region, a fact which is bringing about many changes in the 

 mountain country rapidly. As a result, the inhabitants are facing the 

 crisis brought about by the sudden mingling of a primitive people with the 

 exploitative phase of modern civilization. 



CHANGING CONDITIONS. 



Mineral Resources. 



Coal is the chief mineral resource of the region. The seams occur in 

 every county, increasing in number and thickness towards the southeast and 

 reaching their climax in the Black Mountain region. The layers are favor- 

 ably disposed for mining, except in the Pine and Cumberland mountains, 

 where complex structure renders mining difficult. The coal is bituminous, 

 the most desirable varieties being as follows : Cannel, found in limited 

 basins throughout the field ; coking, appearing in large amounts only in 

 the vicinity of Pound Gap : and high class steaming coals, occurring in 

 quantity in tbe southeastern counties and at a few places along the western 

 margin. 



