The trail to the railroad was a long and tedious path from the hills of Harlan County many years ago. Getting the aid of tools and machinery was a slow as the tread of oxen that hauled some of the heaviest loads of logs. The difficulty of bringing an engine or "dinky" brought from Virginia across the mountains was a tremendous job.

The pictured "dinky" was brought from Virginia and pulled by oxen. The suspense of having it tumble down the hill was always present. If the oxen had made an awkward move it would have thrown it down the mountain side.

A rickety wooden track was built on Clover Fork for the "dinky". The engine saved many hard laboring trips for the oxen. The logs were dumped at the edge of the Cloveer Fork River and lay there until the tide took them out.

John Capps was the foreman and Jim Lyttle was the engineer. Charlie King and a Farley boy are shown sitting on the front of the "dinky"

Pioneer families famed for their high character and will to build homes, log and farm, gave Harlan County a good beginning. Nothing was at their fingertips. They worked and sweated day in and day out to build their little log house.

The housewife treasured her bare necessities such as iron pots and wooden bread trays, her home spun blankets, and her spinning wheel and the quills and bobbins.

"There were cracks in the house big enough to "poke your fist through" and the wind whistled down the chimney," an old timer said, "and sometimes blew right out in your face." The children sat around on the floor eating apples or a chunk of sweet bread.

There was a fine atmosphere about the pioneer home. An old timer told of visiting in one on Poor Fork when he was a small boy out picking wild strawberries.

The odor of the old mothers cob pipe filled the rooms. On the porch hung pods of red pepper and beans drying for the winter and on top of the smoke house were apples drying where the sun shone on them brightly.

The old timer visited the isolated families many times in his boyhood and attended bean stringing's, stir offs, log rollings and wool pickings.

He remembered of the old-timer's interest in the county and seeing it progress. Some of them were so interested in seeing farming go forward that they bought rye seed and sold it at cost in an effort to arouse an interest in the rotation of crops.

Living in the woods brought the early folk next to nature. Berry picking time or "sapping" time was looked forward to. They hunted "yellow root" and "sang" and other medical herbs when the sun set. They loved the joy of the earth's gifts.

picture....ONE OF THE FIRST "DINKIES" IN HARLAN COUNTY-----The "dinky" and its crew shown here was one of the first to be brought to Haraln County. The trip over the Virginia mountain was very slow. The oxen pulled the "dinky" only a few feet and then they stopped to rest. An awkward move would have sent the mountains to where they could be dumped into the river. John Capps (without coat) was the fireman and next to him is Jim Lyttle, the engineer. Charlie King and a Farley boy are shown on the front of the "dinky".

Sunday July 26, 1953

Volume 52 Number 173

Pages 1 & 5

Click Here to return to Main Harlan County Page