The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 18

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18

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Reclaiming Christ’s Heritage.

XXIV.
The Southern Mountaineers.

Strange as it may sound, the purest strain of
American blood to be found to-day is in the most
backward section of our. country. Hidden away
in the picturesque slopes and deep ravines of the
Appalachian Mountains, these descendants of the
earliest settlers of our country live in their log
cabins as did their forefathers two hundred years
ago, run about barefoot, marry in their childhood,
cherish their old superstitions, fight out their feuds,
talk in the language and live the customs of their
pre-Revolutionary ancestors.

Between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 of these de-
scendants of old Colonial stock are scattered
throughout a strip about 1,000 miles long, which

culable mineral wealth. The mountainsides, when
cleared, furnish fertile soil for crops, and the
valleys and coves are famous for their productivity.
The inaccessible portions of the mountainsides are
still covered with vast primeval forests of valuable
timber; but farther down and in the valleys are
found farms that are most attractive. Berries and
orchard fruit abound, and apples from this region
are set before the kings and princes of the world.

Isolation of the Highlanders.

These regions, so charming and resourceful, are
isolated as are few other regions of our country.
The mountains have proved barriers against the
approach of good highways. The people of one
valley often never come in contact with the inhabi-
tants of another valley just a few miles away. In
recent years, however, telephones have opened up
communications hitherto unknown, and even good

A Mountain Mansion.

follows the mountain levels from Virginia and
West Virginia through the Carolinas, Kentucky,
and Tennessee, down into Georgia and Alabama.
Another portion of these “highlanders” is to be
found in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas.
Here is a section which seems to have been lifted
bodily out of the mountains of the Old South and
to have been transplanted with all its illiteracy,
primitiveness, superstition, and poverty and also
offers the same need for spiritual help and uplift.

Home of the “Southern Highlanders.”

The region occupied by the Southern moun-
taineers covers portions of ten States and 277
counties in these States. For natural beauty no
part of: our country excels these sections of the
Appalachians and Ozarks. The mountain sides are
covered with grass, bushes, and trees to their very
tops. The valleys are fertile and masterpieces of
the great Creator in beauty. Down the ravines run
silvery streams of purest water, and in the depths
beneath the surface are hidden treasures of incal-

Primitive Hominy Mill.

roads are beginning to become a reality. The ex-
treme isolation of the people is largely responsible
for the condition. The world of education, of enter-
prise, and of progress has been shut out; the people
have been shut in. Their isolation has hid from the
people in general the deprivations, the miserable
surroundings and conditions, and the general
mental, physical; and spiritual blight endured by
these descendants of fine old Colonial stock, poten-
tially one of the greatest sources of American talent
and greatness.

The Origin of the Southern Mountaineers.

Of the total population of the Southern Appa-
lachian and Ozark regions only about thirty thou-
sand, less than one-fourth per cent., are foreign-
born. Here, then, is a people of exceptionally pure
American birth. Their names and traditions show
their remote English, German, French, Irish, and
Scotch origin. There are more people of unmixed
Colonial ancestry in the highland counties of the
Southern Appalachian States than in any other part