Backcountry Notes

Mountain road near Sapphire, NC, 1902Travel and transportation in the early Backcountry were often challenging.  While there were passable roadways in the valleys -- at least in fair weather -- the mountainous terrain of the highlands was ever daunting. Even into the middle of the 20th century, shank's mare and the mule were often the means of travel. In this article -- vintage pictures of the roads, bridges, ferries and conveyances of the Southern Backcountry.

Note: Click on any image for a larger view

The ways travelled in the mountains were typically narrow and unpaved. Even after state highway departments began taking secondary roads into the state systems, some remained unpaved and others were "orphaned."

Walnut Bottom Road, Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

Roads often took advantage of the terrain -- during dry parts of the year, creekbeds often served as roadways. Spate creeks were particularly handy for this purpose; periods of high water in the spring would maintain a wide, rocky bed which could be travelled during the rest of the year.

Kentucky mountaineer using a creekbed as a wagon road

Roads built in steep terrain required horseshoe bends and cutbacks -- a mile "as the crow flies" might be three or four miles by wagon or car.

Kentucky mountain road

Even improved roads had their hazards. They still do -- it hasn't been that long since I found the going slow on scenic Rt. 16 in Smyth County, Virginia, on account of twenty-some cattle which had decided to head into town on a Friday night. Slowly. Imperturbably unhurriedly.

BRIDGES

Inevitably, there are bridges, some scenic, others pulse-quickening.

Bridge on Walnut Bottom Road

View over Walnut Bottom Road bridge

Handmade bridge near Jackson, KentuckyView across handmade bridge near Jackson, KentuckyWooden bridge across Hughes River, in the former community of Nethers, VirginiaThen there is the swinging bridge. If you've ever walked across one, you know why they have that name. Some of them are small and manageable . . .

Swinging bridge crossing a creek near Ary, Kentucky. . . and others seem to have been conceived by a committee of demons.

Swinging bridge crossing the Kentucky River at Jackson

Swinging bridges were often situated adjacent to fords where rivers and large creeks could be crossed by wagons during low water. If the water was high, you parked and walked to town, or home. Construction of the swinging bridge is straightforward: a tower is built on each side of the stream or river; cables or heavy ropes are hung between the towers; and decking is then hung from the cables. Stairs or ramps are usually required at each tower.

View of tower structure, swinging bridge in Breathitt County, Kentucky, 1930sTravel across a swinging bridge is, of course, strictly pedestrian.

Swinging bridge near Hazard, Kentucky, well-built with side rails and close-fit plankingMost swinging bridges survive in parks and recreational areas, but a small number of functional swinging bridges remain, such as the North Fork Holston River bridge in Virginia.

CABLE FERRIES

In the early days of settlement, where rivers were too deep to ford, cable ferries were built. Most of these have long ago been retired, leaving only their memory in names like Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. During the early years of the Great Wagon Road migration, four or five cable ferries crossed the Potomac River going south from Frederick County, Maryland, to the Valley of Virginia.

Potomac River cable ferry near Sharpsburg, Maryland, 1930sCable ferries are water-powered. The method is simple: a cable is strung between the banks of a river at a place where there is a steady, wide normal flow. The ferry is attached with shorter free-running cables which can be lengthened or shortened by means of a winch. When the ferry is angled into the flow, the force of the water moves it sideways, toward the opposite bank. For the return trip, the angle is reversed.

Cable ferry operating in McCreary County, Kentucky, about 1940

Cable ferry crossing the Kentucky River, circa 1895, carrying wagons and teams

VEHICLES -- MULES, WAGONS, SLEDS, AND SUCH

Walking was often the only way to get from one place to another in the Backcountry. Children really did get up before dawn and walk several miles to school -- not true, however, that it was all uphill both going and returning.

Carrying supplies after crossing a swinging bridge

Then there was the mule, the all-purpose provider of "horsepower" which pulled plows and wagons, turned grinders, and carried riders.

Two lads riding a mule, Kentucky, 1930sMountain folk riding to town with produce to sellAnother mule carrying two riders

Running the Backcountry mail, 1930sBelow -- the old saves the new. The photographer records his guide's car being pulled from a mud hole by a mule, 1940.

Sleds were once an important means to haul things in the Backcountry. The sled was a simple, rectangular wooden box, open at the top and having wooden runners on the bottom. When I was a lad, such sleds -- pulled by tractors -- were used in the harvesting of tobacco in central North Carolina.

Sled travelling along a creekbedThe terms "sled road" and "wagon road" were not interchangeable in the old days. Sled roads were narrow passages that ran across steep terrain. Compared to wheeled wagons, sleds were at a disadvantage going uphill, but were superior on steep downhill runs.

Wagons remained a common sight in Backcountry towns into the middle of the 20th century

Motor vehicles weren't luxury items in the Backcountry -- they had to earn their keep.

Car loaded with sacks of feed

There are many thousands of miles of abandoned or orphaned sled roads, wagon roads, and horse trails in the Backcountry. With permission, of course, these can sometimes be explored by those willing to hike through the overgrowth.