WBIR’s The Heartland Series with Bill Landry: Volume 3

[Music] you asked someone from east tennessee well where are you from you know say i'm in east tennessee and i'm from east tennessee and you don't really see that in other states for example have you ever heard someone say well i'm i'm a north alabamian or i'm a central mississippian or i'm a south floridian you don't have that anywhere else i don't think except in tennessee and it seems to be particularly true for east tennessee i'm east tennessean and i'm proud of it like the mountains that surround us that are so much a part of our historic past the character of east tennesseans is etched in stone rock solid sturdy unbreakable slow to change as the waves of newcomers continue to move into our region subtly changing the texture of the people here some basic truths remain about what it means to be in east tennessean i'm bill landry for the heartland series today we explore the east tennessee character in 1784 the state of franklin was formed in upper east tennessee our first bold attempt at statehood and as recently as 1956 east tennessee tried to join the union as the state of east tennessee east tennesseans have traditionally been very independent-minded people and uh they have uh marched to a different drummer they've taken the path not taken they we have just done things and thought differently here in east tennessee dr charles bryant is an authority on east tennessee history he realizes that to understand the way we think today we must understand those who came before us they came in the late 1760s and the early 1770s and that came in clear defiance of existing law of british policy they were people who wanted to create a new life for themselves a life that would be rich and meaningful to them well the ethnic make up other people of east tennessee was primarily scots-irish but they came from virginia in north carolina with a sprinkling of people from pennsylvania east tennesseans say that when the state was first settled all the nerdy wells and no goods and bad people went over and settled in the middle of west tennessee of course middle and west tennesseans have an answer to that they say that way back then there was a big sign up at crab orchard and it said the middle and west tennessee and those who could read went on over in settle middle and west tennessee and those who couldn't read stayed here the image of east tennesseans as rural poorly educated farmers is in stark contrast to actual fact the truth is east tennessee is the most industrialized part of the state with the highest population it's been estimated that our state will grow in east tennessee with that will grow 20 to 25 to 30 percent by the year 2000 that's people moving in to our state they're coming in with different ideas and values and i think that's very healthy for us but something that is so very important we must not forget where we came from where we come from it's a vital component in the makeup of east tennessee in many ways east tennessee is one of the most progressive parts of the country with tva the tri-cities and the technology corridor but fortunately east tennesseans resist some change our region remains a stronghold of traditional values a strong sense of community of regional pride and an undying faith in the individual achievements of men and women new fallen snow in east tennessee it sneaks upon us in the night one flake at a time we wake to a mystical landscape gently transformed all is still silent and wondrous uh so wow in 1769 william bean built a cabin just across this ridge where boone's creek feeds into the watauga river soon others followed these were the wataugans the first east tennesseans with single-minded human effort they took on the challenge of a new frontier land and one their story is our story first as a trickle then soon a stream settlers came into east tennessee from southwestern virginia and north carolina the british government had forbidden settlement west of the appalachians but the wataugans were not to be denied by any authority they came anyway here on a map we can see just how they came they traveled through bristol where the appalachians gave way to the gently rolling foothills of the holston valley they settled near johnson city they settled along the watauga river and here along these easy curves of boone's creek they raise their families families like bean carter severe and sullivan courageous men and women whose daring and self-will we have inherited they came and they stayed for simple reasons the love of freedom and the love of land reasons east tennesseans can well understand today most people if they're living in a certain area do not see the beauty around them but i think the people that lived in this region more than perhaps any other people that i know of did love the beautiful big springs and the clear water that they talked about in the mountains of course many of them stayed here because they liked it they genuinely loved it but the landscape was as treacherous as it was stunning civilization lay to the east behind a monstrous wall of mud and stone and earth cut off from the known world the watogans survived on self-reliance you develop these skills this ingenuity because if indeed everything you need you have to to make it yourself after a while your mentality i think improves to the extent that you you can do this and there's very almost nothing on the frontier that they couldn't make or or at least make a substitute for and that includes everything even a rat trap and when the rat niggled on the corner it knocked him in the head knocked him in the head hopefully amidst the cutting winds and cruel realities of life on the frontier there were small treasures as well a glowing fire soft tunes and simple human contact the wataugans had established a foothold here in the wilds of east tennessee by surviving many challenges they had beaten the mountains cleared the land and soon they would face the cherokee but their most difficult trial lay ahead the british crown itself here near present-day elizabethton fort watauga was the site of a fierce indian battle it was here that east tennessee's first white settlers turned back the proud cherokee and cleared the way for others to follow but another battle was fought nearby not a shot was fired and not a life was lost but it was the greatest battle the watogans would ever face a flock of sheep some cattle an outcropping of log cabins fields of corn and beans this was the typical homestead in the watauga settlements of the early 1770s the rhythms of the seasons and the limits of physical endurance gave a slow even pace the work was hard food was plain but sufficient life was good along the watauga river perhaps too good word soon spread of the magnificent bounty to be found in the valley of the watauga beyond the mountains a stream of newcomers began to arrive from the carolinas virginia and as far away as pennsylvania but this was indian land and the watogans were here illegally according to british law in 1763 the british crown had forbidden settlement west of the appalachian and now the long arm of british rule struck deep into the heart of the watauga valley the wataugans were ordered to evacuate their homesteads and retreat east to the crowded lands they had happily left behind these strong self-willed people were stoned do we go or do we stay a visitor in their midst offered this advice now is the time to keep the land if we give it up now it will ever be the same his name was daniel boone the wataugans boldly drafted written articles of association creating what theodore roosevelt would come to call the first free and independent community on the continent established by europeans of american birth this historic document does not survive to this day but four years before the declaration of independence it transformed a lawless ban of individuals into a company of men who demanded and received the respect of the british government with a self-confidence born on the frontier the wataugas negotiated directly with the british and the cherokee and co-existed for a time three years later an entire nation turned against the crown and the wataugans gladly joined the fight their crushing victory at king's mountain would mark the beginning of the end for the british forces of the wataugans theodore roosevelt would again write they outlined in advance the nation's work they tamed the rugged and shaggy mountains they bid defiance to outside foes and they successfully solve the difficult problem of self-government the legacy of the watogans is purely an american one winning what was then the west winning the war for independence and blazing the trail of self-government these are the accomplishments of the men and women who formed the foundation of what would become east tennessee trapping fur it's what first brought white settlers into this country possum [ __ ] fox both gray and red occasionally a coyote that gets in and kills a cast that's what roscoe stinnett's game is today it's no secret what his motives are i guess they're not much different from boons or crocketts or any of the rest of them you can see these tracks i see where he went in there yeah these tracks are you see right here where he stepped he right here he's going in there see he you don't want to break them twigs though because if you do you don't know you've been there for over 61 of his 71 years roscoe stinnett's been trapping ever since he was a boy and his grandfather taught him growing up on little river you ever go up and stay a couple days at a time oh yeah i've stayed in cave back on little river for a week at a time [Music] what would you hunt trout we trapped mustaches gunks awesome we skinned everything we caught boy we get smelling bad smelling bad oh man it's getting bad time then what'd they do to me when you got home it's over no they won't smell it boy you get used to it so it's good for a coal closure roscoe has his own time-honored value system he lives by it to him trapping is a way to express his own philosophy of conservation i've seen him just walk around this man here on this farm he said he just walked up and killed him with a stick that's the main and die that's a horrible death talk about being cruel to animals now that's cruel to an animal they have to die like that just gradually die with the mane just pitiful if you ever see one you ain't never seen nothing pitiful when they get too thick or just well when humans look over and where all these people are starving to death now look at them kids over in africa man the same thing happens to anything when you get too much you think you do a service sure sure it does farmer service if anybody can't see that they're blind but it's the outdoors that draw roscoe for their own sake it's the love of freedom and love of land that calls him the same stirring that brought the wataugans across the appalachians a yearning for room for body and soul would you like to have lived a couple hundred years ago like boone and those guys well that everybody's always told a lot of people tell me that i born about 100 years too late the way i like to live i don't know right i i love it now i don't know of course i didn't i wouldn't want i wouldn't want the world without people in it but i i still don't like to be crowded yeah i don't think you can head to the higher country i would like to getting how i can get up on top of the hill where i can see off i'm like a coyote then it comes to that this is called a double wedding ring pattern this is a bird this is called a sunflower a may basket and a little dutch girl these are all hot plate pads and these are quilts some of over 500 quilts made by opal hat maker in her lifetime and today opal is going to let us help her with her latest opal hatmaker has been making quilts for as far back as she can remember opal's father died in a coal mine when she was 5 years old leaving a family of 13 children and one on the way opal's mother had to struggle to make ends meet and the family worked late into the night on the quilts they sold for a dollar we used to have to quilt with oil lights and fireplace lights all we had we had one oil light in one room everybody's facing and hollering and get out of my life there were only three girls in this anderson county family so the men folk also had to pitch in and help my brothers like to work but they didn't want the boys or anybody out of the family to see them if somebody come in they'd take off they would help when there was nobody around years of fighting for survival toughened up a lot on a person and it certainly toughened up opal's hands but even today she still has to give them some time off when i caught a whole quilt like this and i have to wait a few days for my fingers quit hurting if it's true that beauty is born out of pain quilts are a good example but quilts were not made for the sake of beauty quilts came about because they're so downright practical scientists have discovered that their unique layering is extremely effective for holding in heat but opal could have told us this more than 60 years ago since making a good quilt took a lot of time women started meeting together to get the job done faster the meetings became known as quilting bees it's a day yeah it's just a day out for people to stay home out there anderson there's nowhere else to go quilts are made by people for people many quilters say that they not only feel that they accomplish something they say it's a comfort there's so many people when they retire they have to take uh medicine the little brain and i call this my medicine when we get together like we do it's a lot of fun i love that pattern i'm going to make a whole quilt with a snail's trailer i love it i don't like looking snails well that's like a snail it looked like a snail i wouldn't like it either that's right when you think that it's a needle and thread that creates something she told us one day she said about a girl said i never did have no children no operations and ain't never been sick so i ain't got nothing to talk about we love each other just like a family this quilt will hang here until opal and the ladies get together again next week quilting is addictive it's a good time shared with good friends creating beautiful and practical works of art sure it takes a lot of time and like the ladies say a lot of beans been burned quilting but it's worth it in the colony of south carolina fort loudoun on the little tennessee river is under siege it is 1760 the cherokee are enraged the brutal execution of over 20 of their chiefs by the british have sent them on a bloody mission of vengeance as the westernmost point of the american colonies this small british outpost suffers the full force of cherokee wrath nearly 200 men women and children sought shelter behind these walls a long fearful year they were cold starving and hopelessly alone their only hope for survival rested on the courage of one man a slave named abraham delicate english china like this was uncovered near excavations of the site out here on the brink of the frontier the english still enjoyed the finer things in life but by the winter of 1760 things would be different food stocks began to dwindle and fine english china would soon hold only a meagre ration of corn and horse meat their only source of relief must come from charlestown but the colonial capital lies 450 miles east over land seething with cherokee captain dimir commander of the fort summons abraham a slave in the charge of a local indian trader because he is black abraham may stand a better chance among the indians or so it is hoped and so the slave abraham himself a captive sets off on a mission to free the very people who hold him captive he penetrates into the darkest most perilous reaches of cherokee country over 200 souls depend upon his unyielding courage [Music] it was february now abraham delivered the dispatches to governor littleton in south carolina but he could not rest until his task was complete the desperate fort cried out for relief abraham knew he could bring it he runs the gauntlet once more he carries a packet of trade goods that will be used to barter food from sympathetic cherokee women [Music] abraham falls prey to the cherokee guns near fort prince charles his leg screams with pain he cannot stop now half crazed with fatigue half with joy he stumbles upon fort loudoun his precious cargo intact abraham's superhuman march through hazardous cherokee territory brought relief to fort loudoun for a while but by august of that year the fort had been lost during the surrender the cherokees killed over 20 white settlers to match the number of cherokee chiefs that had been murdered it was the sacred code of cherokee justice the original site of fort loudoun has been raised 17 feet above the waters of teleco lake you can visit it near vanor tennessee and what became of abraham his place in the history of our region is certain his freedom was purchased by the colony of south carolina for his act of heroism at the siege of fort loudoun abraham became a free man in aging cemetery plots throughout our land the history of east tennessee is buried but time and neglect are taking their toll today will visit hallowed ground and explore the vanishing history of east tennessee jean thorpe has been caring for and studying the jesse butcher cemetery in union county since 1980. a number of the old stones that were in this area were graves of slaves probably the most interesting person that i've found in this cemetery is old john mohler he's buried right here he died in 18 and 10. the old history says that the tories stole food off of john's table in uh during the revolutionary war his wife susanna who is probably buried right here must have been quite a lady because it was said that she could handle a two bushel bag of wheat or john when he got intoxicated how long will these stones remain intact like this as long as caring people see that they're taken care of mark fox deceased 21 june 1787 he was killed and skipped by the indians it's the oldest smart stone we found in sevier county like gene tharp cheryl henderson has a compassion for the aging cemeteries of east tennessee fox cemetery is one of hundreds she and over 20 others have documented and preserved in sevier county some of these old stones are real hard to read and they're covered with some kind of mild some of them are and the only way you can read them is to spread flour on there and when you brush the excess flour off it stays inside the cracks where the letters are written and you can read it this one says g-e and the o up here is for george and it's m-a-e you can see the stone's broken we can't read the last of his name this dc is for deceased the 18th of july 18 and then the last part of the years is amazing it's broken up too what kind of things might you uncover about george here well we might confirm who his wife was and when he was married and about when he was born and how many children he had and their names if we could find them in the census there's so much history recorded in these cemeteries that when the stones are gone the history will be lost many pioneer grave markers are simple field stones water and ice make them crack and flake destroying precious inscriptions but deliberate destruction and neglect pose an even greater threat to this library of east tennessee history safal cemetery on the banks of the french broad is an example of a neglected cemetery the cows come into the cemetery and they rub against them in the summer that's what happens when they're unfenced you know we think this is now and now it's going to last forever but i guess these people thought that too these crumbling stones are proud symbols and their preservation is vital they announce to the ages the noble lives and deeds of our forefathers the men the women and the children who fought to create our homeland east tennessee [Music] dawn when waterfowl rest and feed in their wintering places mallards paired early for the nesting season black ducks gad walls the clumsy-bodied coop canada geese this is east tennessee where once wood ducks were so thick they used to wake the settlers here between the great mississippi and atlantic flyways they're struggling to return today waterfowl are wild and free on the heartland series we're on the historic nala chucky river with the appalachian mountains over our shoulder to the east this is davy crockett reservoir in upper east tennessee an unlikely spot for waterfowl but they're here behind nola chucky dam lies a sanctuary mica buildup and silt have turned a deep water river into a 1 000 acre waterfowl refuge wildlife biologist jim pentecost and steve cottrell are our guides through country where indians once hunted and settlers pioneered that's an island sandbar a lot of this that you'll see is built up from facilitation that's a great blue heron we should be coming up on the ducks and geese we've got the dark darker ones you're looking at are black ducks the lighter birds are mallards coming up on a wood duck box wood ducks are cavity nesters like they've nested hollow trees nesting hollow trees and a lot of your large trees are being cut and so the wood duck nest box has done a lot to bring the wood duck back the wood ducks will begin nesting in the spring in the meantime their home is being leased out one bird that uses these boxes maybe more than the wood ducks or the screech owls they use them for winter shelter right here's the screech owl that's sewn himself in the doorway tva along with the tennessee wildlife resources agency began releasing canada geese in 1972 1980 on the nolitaki once thought nearly extinct the giant canada goose along with the wood duck are now resident tennessee birds why'd you choose that particular species because the giant canada geese is the least migratory subspecies in the canada goose family and as long as they've got open water and some food they don't have any need to migrate it's this bird we're searching for along the nullachucky we venture amidst echoes of the cherokees and the pioneers different species too huh and those are blacks there's a few black ducks and there's some candidates getting up with what are these on the right it is only fitting that here at the nullachucky waterfowl sanctuary 200 years after the first settlers a new species flies wild abundant and free attack and counter-attack it was the common language of the frontiersmen in the cherokee through the deafening roar of battle cries and gunfire a gentle voice struggled to be heard clear and pure was the voice of nancy ward her timeless plea was for peace today the heartland series brings you the story of nancy ward beloved woman of the cherokee and friend of the pioneer for 30 years the creeks in the cherokee fought many bloody skirmishes over prized hunting grounds during one of these encounters the cherokees were taking a fierce beating when the leader of their war party was killed nanjehi the 17-year-old wife took up his gun and joined the battle inspired by her courage the retreating cherokee turned and routed the enemy victory was so complete that the creeks abandoned the disputed land for her valor in combat nani was made a beloved woman she married a white fur trader and took the name of nancy ward during the revolutionary war the cherokee sided with the british and war parties went in search of pioneer scouts nancy ward realized that attacking white settlements would only inflame the newcomers causing a full-scale counter-attack against her people thinking of the lives at stake on both sides she warned the frontier settlements of the impending attacks her advance warning enabled the wataugans to defeat the cherokee at fort watauga but the beaten warriors did not go home empty-handed they captured lydia bean the wife of east tennessee's first permanent white settler she was to be burned at the stake lydia bean prayed for her soul as a vengeful crowd gathered about her because she was a beloved woman nancy ward had the power of life or death over cherokee prisoners she spared the life of the terrified white woman lydia bean went on to teach nancy ward and other cherokee women how to cultivate milk cows for butter and cheese it was a small step toward peace between contrasting cultures it was a piece that was destined not to last nancy ward found herself in a world determined to take the path of war and bloodshed but this beloved woman commanded the respect of men and women alike and would not be silenced you know that women are always looked upon as nothing but we are your mothers you are our son our cry is all for peace let it continue this peace must last forever nancy ward's devotion to peace never faltered she spared the lives of countless white settlers she counseled the cherokee to keep their lands and remain free and proud her wisdom and strength made her the most admired and respected woman in cherokee history nancy ward was a voice of reason in a troubled land she died in 1822 and is buried here near benton tennessee it is said that at her funeral a magical light rose above her body and like a bird flew back across the mountains to chota the sacred city of the cherokee frontier justice in the early years of east tennessee was often quick and severe horse thieves were tracked down and hanged by the neck if a man killed an indian without provocation he received justice in kind by the wataugas laws were explicit and strictly enforced but as always there were men who lived outside the law today on the heartland series we'll take you back to meet one such man russell bean in his bout with frontier justice [Music] that fella there in the middle that's russell beam he's distinguished not only because he's the first white man born on tennessee soil he's all sold amidst he strikes fear into the hearts of every man in the territory and he's mad russ has been down in new orleans for the past two years he's just now come back to watauga seems that his wife has had a an unsponsored child in his absence russell hasn't exactly taken the news so well so we cut the unfortunate infant's ears off said he didn't want to get it mixed up with his own stock that's a right awful thing to do to a youngin so they took russell and they branded him right in the palm of his offending hand that must have been powerful painful and do you know that unholy satan of a man bitten his own hand and spit that brand out on the ground in front of the whole town and he's still mad won't rest till he's killed his wife's seducer that'd be mr allen don't many folks know that but i reckon i can say so being housed mr allen's right smarter than russell so far he's managed to elude him not so alan's brother he got his head kicked in yesterday by the raging brute come on out there russell bean pulled up in his cabin over yonder to find the rest of the town to confront him get out of here drop me where you stand how can one man stand off the lot of you i won't have it sheriff summon every man in the courthouse i want russell bean dead or alive that's mighty powerful talk for a young judge our sheriff don't like being talked down to then i'll summon you your honor by the eternal i'll bring him in they ain't a man among you that can take me dean either you surrender or i'll shoot you down right here our judge is either the bravest man i ever saw or the most foolhardy can i believe my eyes the wild animal bean is dropping his weapon i'll surrender to you mr devil seems our young judge can stand toe to toe with the best of the bunch yes sir looks like that andrew jackson's got quite a future ahead of him [Music] jesse holder has a special passion for the guns that tame the west it's a love affair that began when he first pointed a crooked stick out of his boyhood playhouse now he's a gunsmith crafting the guns of the pioneers we'll meet him and his frontier firearms today on the heartland series i always wanted to kick myself because i didn't learn to paint pictures from thought but the only way i can express my feelings is through the building of this rifle because they tell the whole story of the early america it's a story that was written with a steady hand a keen eye and a frontier rifle the barrels were long 44 inches hence the name long rifle they were potent weapons their deadly accuracy was guaranteed by an ingenious double trigger it keeps you from pulling off of the target when you get ready to fog you pull the back trigger back and then pull a hammer back and then you just barely breathe on the front and it'll fire the long rifle was the tool that kept foes at bay and put food on the table for the pioneer it meant his life and the life of his family they'd done their own fighting with their muscle over if anything come up that they couldn't handle with their bare hands while of course they went out of betsy and in the early days of east tennessee betsy would have more than likely been a cap and ball rifle like the kind jesse holder still makes today gunsmithing runs in jesse's family his grandfather made rifles during the civil war there'd be things that you'll do in your life that your grandfather on that you probably never got to see your grandpa i never saw my grandfather but it travels with us through life it gets in the bloodstream and it'll stay to make a rifle jessie starts with a piece of rough stock curly maple or highland cherry from near teleco make beautiful finished rifle stocks fitting the barrel to the stock groove comes next the spiral grooves inside the barrel have to be just right so when your bullet goes out through there it knows how to twist it and that makes it more accuracy is something jesse holder knows a lot about his tennessee long rifles fire true and are true to history the grace of a rifle is the heart of a thing the feel of it to feel one of jessie's guns is to travel back in time a measure of black powder some paper to keep it dry a wet patch to clean the barrel then the ball tap it down with your ram rod so she's ready to fire imagine yourself as daniel boone alone standing still in the wilderness pull your hammer back hold on easy now watch that silver dot forget all about that you're alive or anything and then just squeeze it off and don't move [Music] that's the way you're doing don't move i moved back i can't hit right the dead center it's a bull's eye during the last days of winter east tennesseans look forward to their appearance for a brief time their golden blossoms dot our landscape proclaiming the dawn of a new season today the heartland series welcomes the coming of spring with nature's trumpet the jonquil to the homesteaders who settled the land winter was the bleakest time of year nature seemed to close for the season for months on end all remain cold and monotonous and gray then in late february and early march of each year a determined little flower would make its welcome appearance warming the heart and soul of the pioneer european settlers brought jonquil bulbs to east tennessee it was their way of making a strange new world a little more familiar in areas like cades cove pioneer homesteads can often be found near jonquil beds that still bloom each year dr r.e mclaughlin is interested in the history of life in all of its forms we tend to admire plants and animals that display this sort of persistence persisting here season after season despite the fact that the people that that lived here at the planet are long gone the symbol of spring is still here jonkles are distinguished from other members of the daffodil family by their long central cups in fact some folks call the jungle the trumpet daffodil whatever the name we appreciate them for their brilliant color we're more apt to focus on the colorful [Music] petals and and seaports that of course aesthetically attract us those are really not essential parts insofar as the reproductive cycle is concerned of course the flower is the reproductive organ of this particular class of of plants but for one reason or another jonquils in east tennessee do not reproduce normally most have lost the ability to produce seeds instead the bulb of a jungle must divide to create new plants only so many new plants will grow successfully in a given area that explains why jonquils in the wild can only be found in small clusters [Music] the jockey was brought to east tennessee by folks who wanted to make this land a home from bulbs planted generations ago a token of spring still emerges and the jungle is now part of our home the jockey will be here regardless of whether we are not long after you and i the seasonal rhythms of life do not begin with spring they continue that is what nature is telling us now the first notes of spring have sounded nature's trumpet the jonquil leads a rising melody the song of spring is about to begin in east tennessee it is a rich and varied land molded by the handiwork of nature mountains rise high in the east over a valley that gently ripples toward an immense plateau it is like nowhere else in the world today the heartland series explores the forces that have shaped where we live and how we live in east tennessee the one we're standing on here was once a sea beach here's a piece of the rock that forms this mountain made of sand grains lithified and hardened forced upward sandstone is tough and abrasive it grows the seal in my knife blade showing you how tough and resistant that material is the valley rocks in contrast are softer more readily eroded weathered limestones and shades a simple laboratory experiment reveals how the forces of erosion have carved the landscape we see today in this beaker we have a piece of limestone from the tennessee valley over here in the other beach here we have a piece of sandstone from the top of chill highway mountain now we're going to use some laboratory acid here but in nature acids occur from acid rain and decaying vegetation of cellified minerals and rocks this attack of course is much faster here in the laboratory but this goes on in nature at a slower rate this demonstrates how the limestones of the valley are really down worn down in low lands tough resistant sandstorms the acid impervious materials were left standing behind in high relief the cumberland plateau is also capped by erosion resistant sandstone it looms before a limestone valley that has been lowered by the diligent force of water [Music] one thing erosion does is it exposes us minerals that were once buried the mining and plains [Music] resources the earth has been long been important and still are very important in the history of east tennessee they found the iron ore early began manufacturing here early they also put water wheels on the streams that were flowing rapidly down the sides the ridges in the mountains began to grind drain east tennesseans were isolated by the imposing physical boundaries around them the peaks of the smokies to the east the huge bluffs of the cumberland plateau to the west kept them hemmed in separated from the rest of the state east tennesseans developed their own way of doing things industry was established early and flourished the flow of ideas trade goods and people came from the northeast along the ridges and down the rivers of the valley if you imagine the continents colliding think of the world map push africa and europe against north america south america the compression will be dominantly worn directed in a northeast southwest direction we see that now in the linearity of the ridges and the valleys that run from northeast to southwest [Music] we are products and are influenced and imprinted by the environments in which we grow and live for centuries folks have believed that the moon affects the planning cycles on earth some of the first writings on this effect appeared in england in the 16th century but were probably in practice long before believers say as the moon becomes full it grows and so will your crops astrological signs were given to the moon and these were made to correspond to body parts some barren some fertile [Music] believers in the strange mixture of christianity and paganism say that even the smallest gardens can benefit from these methods today we'll talk to a farmer well versed in this ancient custom now it's a good time to plant plant beans and stuff like that they go in the thighs here people always try to plant beans on a good friday don't put nothing out on the signs and the bowels do most times rods i cannot question whether or not the signs work personally i feel that if if it works for an individual use it i have no way of disproving that signs work neither do i have any research information to prove it well we always planted a corn on old moon and then right on down here now you right here is there here's the last quarter right there it's starting on the older moon and here's a new moon again down here on this 19th and the new of the moon you see hits like the old moon hit you plant stuff on near the moon and it i reckon it grows so fast don't take time much to make good roots like you do and plant an older moon now there's no man used to live around jerry brooks live around here and i didn't have any time i said jerry when you plant that corn i don't know he says i'll never i said don't you go up with the sign i said you plant that corn that says in the signs i said it's on over the moon i said he won't grow up sky-high best time to prune trees and signs and no unknew the moon you stopped them that's i used to gray for a whole lot that's when i used to grab and another thing when covering the building we'd all just cover a building when the sun is on those the moon on the counter who would lay down if you cover the building on near the moon and turn up then something to them signs i i know i've seen it tried and tried it myself the other way [Music] he's is a good farmer his methods work but they may work if he did not plant with the signs you see uh i have no way of knowing well i believe that the condo counties in the bible do everything there is a season any time forever purpose [Music] under the heavens in time to be born and the time to die in time to plant and the time to pluck up that which is planted heaven is a river bottom it's a set of rains and a pair of plow handles so writes tennessee author jim dykes the story is called heaven is two strong horses and a turning plow plowing once it was ten hours a day turning three acres of land twenty miles of walking for a dollar today it is a gift a linking of generations a bond between a father and a son bill jones remembers how it's done his boy joey doesn't yet but he will [Music] knowing to keep the rumps in the fur feeling the rhythms of the horses and the earth turning as one turning turning plowing the earth all day light long we settled down bunches and bunches since we first started this morning didn't he [Music] the wind feels good [Music] don't try to fight it supposed but a team of horses listens best to one voice the voice that tugs on the leather reins and metal bits and belongs to the man who guides the plow [Music] come on [Music] uh [Music] the history of east tennessee is a catalog of heroes great men yes but they had faults and weaknesses too just like the rest of us nowhere is this more true than in the feud between john cevier and andrew jackson [Music] it all began in 1803 here on the streets of knoxville which was then the state capitol an argument broke out between the two of them heated words were exchanged words that could not easily be taken back in those days there was only one sure way to settle a dispute it challenged each other to duel and at that time they had a state law that you could not fight a duel on state owned property i mean the state of tennessee roane county historian babe parker has been telling the story of the jackson severe duel for years the indians had this one mile square that was not part of the state of tennessee because it had not been seated so jackson and sevier said well we'll fight at southwest point that's not a part of the state judge jackson arrived at fort southwest point in kingston and waited for his rival to show himself at 36 andrew had already bested many men at pistols having to wait for days on end had driven jackson to the edge of his patients he was ready for this contest to be over at dawn he set out for knoxville in search of his enemy whom he would meet soon enough john cevier was already enroute to southwest point when he encountered the enraged jackson governor sevier was nearly 60 but he was still a passionate fighter andrew jackson hoped to build a career by facing men in battle now seeing a good time to begin in a holler just outside kingston east tennessee's favorite sons prepared to end their differences once and for all you dirty scarily but doing so dramatically affected his horse and history for that matter because the startled horse bolted and ran away with the governor's dueling pistols nevertheless jackson's pistols were drawn sevier's second drew on jackson jackson's second drew on severes it was a standoff well he jumped behind a tree and told jackson said you wouldn't shoot a naked man but yeah i mean he didn't have his guns so uh they crawled on there for about 30 minutes and finally got on the horses and ran out and rode on off they just say rode off into the sunset but i've often thought that that horse was really the hero of the day because if either one of those men had been shot it would have changed the whole course of history history is equal portions of greatness and folly seasoned with a large dose of chance the history of east tennessee is no exception it is sobering to realize that the lives of east tennessee's greatest heroes were influenced by the swift legs of a startled horse [Music] generations ago east tennessee was covered with timber back then it wasn't good enough to recognize trees you had to know them to tell if the wood inside was good when elmer sherwood was just a boy his father taught him about trees he taught elmer how to split boards how to make a roof to keep the rain out to elmer trees are like people they might look good from the outside but it's the inside that counts you go out here and look at the trees and say that's a good one i could trust that and maybe go and look at a man say well i'll trust him you get in trouble because i've done that i'm getting trouble with trusting what kind of timber do you like to use i like to use red oak and white oaks how many boards might you get out of a piece like this around a couple hundred if it makes good you think you can teach me how to split some boards yeah i can teach you what do we do now margaret lee the phone how long have you had this ever since a little kid i guess my daddy what's that called you're tapping it with there yeah put this wedge in here now we're gonna bust it [Music] dang cutting like a pie huh you see anything in there yeah there's a little rotten spot this is about 1 16 of the block which is the big piece of tree and this is called the bolt and this is what we'll make the boards out of that's right you stay right in the middle of your piece [Music] that's all right you get it yeah i remember when i used to make these when i was a kid yeah yeah let's see that'll straighten up that other piece yeah it didn't take you all to learn [Music] that wasn't that a lot of work how about this one [Music] pretty good board elmer is particular about his boards because a roof done right doesn't leak the rain forms a channel in the grain of the wood and runs off we slipped up tonight and we'd wake up the morning snow on our bed before it blowed underneath with the rain come in rain at 82 elmer still splits 200 boards a day as a young man he split twice that many of course machines do it now and they cover houses far removed from basic shelter but you couldn't say they're better than the board's elmer splits they haven't made a machine yet they can look at a tree and say that's a good one i can trust that one [Music] water in our modern world it's taken for granted but not by the folks in the countrysides of east tennessee here where there's no city plumbing to bring water where it's needed for homes gardens and livestock it has to be found lee hill knows how to find it lee is a water witch man do you call yourself a water witch well i i reckon i would i believe in it now i i didn't used to leaving it too much myself lee doesn't know why he's able to find water he just knows his method works i never have missed it so far i've always had said that my body has to have so much electricity for it to work right and the first step is to cut a branch off a nearby dogwood or cherry tree then lee starts to walk pray and feel the vibrations from the earth when you get close enough that water that stick will start pulling over you've got to give to that stick and the closer you get the further down it goes and when you get right over that water or it'll go out straight down to the ground if you let it watch it all right there's water right here under us so my fingernails would peel the bark off of my sticks just go around i never do show this trick because ain't nobody gonna believe it hey hey that's foolishness do you think it is no i really don't i think i can probably stream water if you put that in your mouth there that thing will go toward where the water runs yeah why don't you show that to us we had quite a sizable investment here already we had to have water we had to have water from some place we were desperate for it ernest meadows is convinced of lee's ability after digging several dry wells his anderson county pig farm was in bad shape so he called on lee i said i gotta have a well that supplies 10 to 15 gallons a minute so he looked over there i showed him there he walked over it i left him alone i come back a few minutes and he said i got you two of them the whale drillers came and of course they were really ribbing me and horse laughing about it and all of a sudden the the welt uh the whale drink just started shaking all over and it started picking the whole well drill up and just shaking it like that i was picking it almost up off the ground you know and we ran off out about 100 feet and about that time the water just hit the sky you know it was water the biggest gusher i've ever seen i believe it's a gift from god i think it's just the gift that he give me to help people out when i go up try to find your water i generally ask the lord to help how so far he always has [Music] every time lee's instincts have told him the water was nearby they've been right is this a spiritual gift for the benefit of mankind or just a ritual lee hill doesn't care what other people think all he cares about is finding water and he says it's right here that's right for the heartland series i'm bill landry in anderson county [Music] he was a tall man and blue eyes very complexion uh erect and uh very handsome man it's reported to be the most handsome man in all of tennessee people seemed to rally around him he was a strong military figure commanding figure in many ways he he was similar to the figure that washington was to the nation as a whole he arrived in 1771 he won the hearts and captured the imagination of the pioneer he was a champion of the common man a lover of freedom a lover of land in john severe we can see what it is to be an east tennessean and we find our greatest hero john severe was tennessee's first governor he was elected for six terms no one has served longer but he performed his greatest service in the field of battle 35 victories with no defeats he led the wataugans to victory at king's mountain and helped turn the tide in the american revolution one of the most important factors on the early tennessee frontier was security and safety and those who were able to protect the settlers from the indians and those who were able to defeat the indians were the heroes and john sevier was the greatest soldier on the tennessee frontier but he earned more than respect for his victories on the battlefield he earned land three hundred thousand acres for military service he once owned this entire block in downtown knoxville and in the basement of this house on walnut street are the bricks from the foundation of the dream home severe was never able to finish but he was able to finish this one it's an unassuming structure it almost seems unworthy of him but living here in marble springs was a most uncommon man with 18 children of his own he once gave away 50 000 bushels of corn during a depression he kept a diary where he recorded and tried to interpret his dreams john sevier taught himself french kept in tune with world affairs and wrote his own dictionary of the cherokee language severe was a man far beyond the frontiersman he was involved in so many things as a realtor a surveyor a city builder a state builder a soldier he had captured some indians and uh he liked the indians like bonnie kate's food so well that they stayed for a whole week so he had to finally run them over i at think time of his death his personal effects were valued at less than 300 the last and happiest years of his life were spent here a place more like the man than we realized every state has its frontier heroes every state has its great men and women from the early period and john sevier is one of ours he was a strong man he is our frontier hero john severe died in 1815 while surveying indian lands in alabama he lies here at the knox county courthouse he is a lasting example of the best that is within us what inspired john sevier still inspires east tennesseans today he shared a deeply rooted love of the land with a boundless devotion to its people from this heroes are made they're the wildiest birds in east tennessee with tremendous senses of sight and sound while they can see me blink at 60 feet and fly over 50 miles an hour camouflage helps some but it still takes a lot of skill patience and luck to see one of these native american birds benjamin franklin was so enamored with this bashful bird he wanted to make it the national symbol it would have been an elusive one a wild turkey is so attuned to his wooded home that he seems to sense when even a twig is out of place this is a blind and it amounts to nothing more than some camouflage webbing with some limbs and things in front when you when you're checking for a bird what is the first call you like to use well when i go into an area where i anticipate or expect a bird to be i usually uh use an owl call or owl hoot just to locate a gobbler why why does a gobbler answer that they'll usually respond to any kind of a loud noise the male turkey or gobbler issues this call frequently this time of year it's also his mating call when searching for one of these birds you not only have to think turkey you have to talk turkey you're imitating the hand yes well it won't let do to it and he thinks he there's a hand in the area that is calling enough to locate him hopefully when she does that he will respond with a gobble the two continue to call each other until they meet if a gobbler has attracted several females he won't leave them no matter how many alluring calls are made his purpose is to entice the hens to mate to do this he makes himself as attractive as possible he ruffles his tail feathers and struts most people don't think wild turkeys can move any faster than a strut but the truth is they've developed survival techniques that put many animals to shame these birds cannot only hear and see ten times better than we do they can run as fast as a deer and when really threatened these clumsy looking birds can fly faster than 50 miles per hour but despite the wild turkey's instincts and abilities this bird almost disappeared from our landscape after the turn of the century they lost their homes to the logging industry and were robbed of an important source of food due to the chestnut blight but the turkey is making a comeback the tennessee wildlife resources agency has undertaken a program to monitor and regulate turkey populations across the state where once only a handful existed these shrewd cunning birds can now be seen in most east tennessee counties if you have the patience and skill to look for them [Music] coal mine is a family thing i had to make a living for my family so you know i i stayed in the coal mines and i really not regretted it okay i'll see you soon i guess after you've been in it a while i guess it uh gets in your blood [Music] coal mining is one of the most interesting occupations i ever done and i've done several different things in my lifetime all right it's safe enough you have to be very cautious and very careful it takes teamwork to work together if we don't work as a team then somebody is liable to get killed we all have a tendency even a person that's been in their minds longer than i have has the tendency to be scared [Applause] oh small yeah up here [Applause] a man's got to be as careful and as cautious as he can and even at that it's still dangerous yeah yeah he ain't kidding way down in the mountains we're down in the bottom of the hole way down in the mountain and i'm picking him and along that dirty back hole it's a relief and there's a gladness there that you made it through another day advocate go home and see your family one more time but all i can give to my sweet honey is the money i get from a shovel in that dirty black hole oh uh so [Music] so [Music] do [Music] do [Music] man is yet to devise a manufacturing plant better than this one inside 70 000 workers are busy producing a single product in the spring of the year when the flowers are in bloom they go to work watch the activity around a hive of honeybees and pretty soon you'll understand why folks are still keeping bees oma lewis and her husband kelly have been keeping bees for 58 years their anderson county home is a sanctuary for nature an ideal setting for their five honey bee hives it's not dangerous if you are careful with them they'll tend to their own business if you let them alone that business is of course making honey but bees are also vital to the pollination of fruit trees and vegetable gardens if we did not have bees we wouldn't raise very much not only do the lewis's manage to raise bushels of fruits and vegetables their bee hives yield several hundred pounds of thick sweet honey each year during spring and summer bees work non-stop sixty to eighty thousand to a hive instinctively they act as a single unit it is a mystifying spectacle you'd be surprised if you just sit and watch little bees work but they come in with they have jobs the same as we do and they know what they have to do there are bees that clean the hive that's debris there in the corner that they've carried out the front door that bee in the middle is a guard bee if you're not from her hive you'll be run off or killed bees covered with pollen land by the thousands each hour those bees fanning their wings create a draft that helps take some of the moisture out of the honey the bee with the large wings and plump body is a drone a male all other bees are female a drone doesn't work and can't sting all he can do is eat and hope to get to the queen to mate if he does he dies instantly if he doesn't he'll die anyway because the worker bees eventually will kill him the bee don't live too long just 30 some days a work can be done and so you see you've got to go ahead and have a lot of bees are coming on all the time that's where the queen comes in mostly she stays down in the lowest level of a hive in the brood box she's the long red bee there in the middle a queen can lay up to 2 300 eggs a day one in each cell see that's the young bees is hatching out there the young bees are fed a mixture of pollen and water older bees eat honey constantly it's gathered as nectar from flowers and transformed into honey by enzymes inside the bee it's a process man still cannot duplicate when bees have plenty of flowers to work from the cells of a honeycomb fill rapidly and then are capped if you want your honey to keep it's got to be kept because if that don't cap it over hit a little sare on you the upper levels of a hive are called supers this is where the honey is stored until the hive can be robbed the honey in the lower levels that belongs to the bees i hate seeing one kill a little bee honeybee is something special the honeycombs are not quite full yet this year but francis moore the fellow not wearing the suit has over a hundred hives throughout east tennessee and he's promised to take us with him to gather honey as soon as the hives are [Music] ready if they're going to sting your bell when you first put your hand around here in front they'd cover it up you'd have 100 maybe 200 bees on your hand to start with princess moore is away with bees after working together 50 years they have come to respect each other and when it comes to robbing the hive a gentler thief you'll never find now you notice your bees the easier you can be with them the better off that you are i mean if you love things connected to nature then i think that you're interested in beekeeping are they glad to see us leave probably so it'd be kind of like a burglar come to your house and take everything in the kitchen bees are natural experts at preserving food as they fill the honeycomb they seal it with wax so the honey doesn't spoil by melting the beeswax with a heated knife francis uncovers nature's sweetener last winter's cold spell made it rough on the bees this spring there were a few blooms left if we're fortunate we might get a thousand pounds of honey uh where normally we get about nine thousand pounds and whether we've got any honey this year or whether we've not we're not going to go down into their compartment and take anything that that they have that are stored for winter [Music] our first honey that we get in the spring year here in east tennessee is teutil poplar we have uh some redbud here we have locus and then after that we usually go into clover [Music] after it's spun out of the frames the golden liquid is strained what's left is pure east tennessee honey [Music] without the bees i don't think we have any natural resources as far as woods and plant life is concerned [Music] to me i mean the more that i read about them the more i work with them the more i learn about them i find that a bee is one of the smartest insects that we have they do something that man has never been able to do i mean they they have produced honey and man has never been able to produce honey [Music] he was bread of war from sturdy farm stocky cane possessing a trait not found in any other horse he moves like a river flows graceful and swift the hindquarters tuck the head nods a front leg lifts and the ride is smooth this horse's movements defies its humble origins today he is a symbol of the great state of tennessee itself the tennessee walker it was during the war between the states that the seed was sown the conflict that divided our country united the plantation horses of the south with the trotters of the north and tennesseans recognize the value of this new stock in the center of the state the famous walker of tennessee was born rapid steady and reliable with three hooves always on the ground several hours on a traditional steed not only left the riders tired but sore the walker's gate is as easy on the body as the soul it was greeted with open arms by those here in the mountains of east tennessee now rural doctors could get around to heal more bodies and country preachers could save more souls and the horse's way of walking was as unruffled as their temperament these horses were hard to spook you could take them anywhere but the tennessee walker was bred for more than easy riding he was bred for hard work [Music] troy nance appreciates the horse's stamina during the 1930s roy had a mail route in granger county that he traveled daily on the back of a tennessee walking horse and he had an hour and 20 minutes to make that there 14 mile snowing raining heavy loaded or anything but he'd make it now they are in 20 minutes of course his name rex a walking horse will get you over more territory in any kind of horse you can ride [Music] you didn't have to use no sperm no we have nothing on him to do once it gets in its pace it'll stay in its pace yes siree but he'll just keep going on down the road but if you ever rode a tennessee walker and then rode anything else tennessee walker would be your pig left behind in the dust of a bygone era 20th century technology changed the horse's role forever he went from plowing a field to winning worldwide fame but some things stay the same when it comes to getting a smooth level ride there's still no comparison to a tennessee walking horse do you miss it oh of course i missed riding the horse and was carrying the mail of where i was and if i had me a horse now that i'd write him down and if you had one you'd have what kind a walking horse this is a maple we met a man near jamestown who's been making chairs from trees like this one for over 50 years his great-grandfather began making chairs around the time of the revolution but there have been no revolutions in how his chairs were made willie doss still makes chairs by hand his tools are powered by muscle and by a dedication to a craft one that has been handed down from father to son for over 200 years you know when i get out and start on pretty well know what i'm ready to take hold of but then it wouldn't get much done you don't use electric tools on that no i i don't use electric too you ever had anybody come back and say their chairs aren't holding up they ever have just the bottom giveaway they bring them back to me you know for the new bottom man to get the material for a chair bottom willie strips the bark off a hickory log the inside bark is then cut into one inch strips free hand the 30 foot strips are then pulled apart into two separate pieces and that's the way your daddy showed you huh that's the way his daddy showed him and his daddy showed him how many chairs you think you made in your your time i wouldn't have the least daddy quite a few after willie has worked his maple linwood and hickory timbers down he takes them to his workshop it's in an old chicken coop that's now used to dry tobacco it's called shaving hole same time that my great-granddad had been from north [Music] carolina if i don't stay with it well i i don't get too much done it takes if it can get dishearten if he does he don't do much it takes four 10-hour days for willie to make a rocking chair two to three to make one for your kitchen most of the work and chair making takes place at the lathe again it's just like the one willie's great grandfather used that's willy's son dwayne he's the fifth generation of chairmakers in the doss family the large posts of willy's chairs are made of green wood the spokes that fit into them are seasoned the green wood expands around the spokes and holds them tight it takes good work to make a good chair in other words it takes a whole lot of work i guess there's plenty of stuff that americans work out to be better but still i'll have to work at this growing up in the wilds of what is now east tennessee was often a treacherous experience this is the story of one boy's trials on the frontier he was average in size for a boy of 12 he knew nothing of faraway places but like any boy he loved the woods he knew them and because he lived on the frontier he knew hard work [Music] his father's tavern was home to any traveler with a nickel in his pocket these were rough untamed men desperate men like the boy's father determined to survive at any cost you've been wanting somebody to work for you and i owe you some money a lot of money this boy could be a good worker for you dutchman his father had hired him out to a total stranger the boy was forced to leave everything he had ever known this stranger was now his guardian boy let's go together they traveled far into virginia [Applause] [Music] the boy quickly learned that this dutchman could dole out just as much work as his father could the bright look and the ready smile began to fade from the boy's face when his employment was finished with a frightful stranger the boy made ready to return home but his keeper would have none of it hurry up kit finally the boy escaped and made quick time back to the beloved hills of his home in east tennessee the rest of the family was overjoyed at his return but his father he hadn't changed he still drank and he still owed more money than he could ever make the unfortunate boy suffered the wrath of his father's frustrations his father's beatings drove the youth away and away he stayed two and a half long years he traveled through virginia and maryland country he stopped wherever he could find work he longed to be with his family among the cool woods of his boyhood but those thoughts were far away now the boy didn't know it but he was receiving the schooling not found in books he was getting a lesson in life how to make the most of whatever would come his way his carefree days were gone it was time to go home here were the green rippling hills of his homeland the boy was ahead taller than when he'd left now with the strength of character to match his strong back and now he knew how much he had missed his family even his father who he had grown to accept they had given him up for lost and he grieved for all the pain he had caused them but now he was home his father had treated him brutally throughout his life but still the boy worked without missing a day to pay off his father's debts he had left his home out of fear he had returned out of honor he had survived the trials of childhood the boy was now a man he was free to shape his own destiny davy crockett had taken his first steps into our history [Music] to the cherokee the natural world was sacred around their campfires it came to life through stories the grandson of a cherokee chief fred bradley is holding on to a way of life that has all but disappeared fred bradley is a myth keeper east from where the sun rises it brings the new day and the beginning of life north from where all the bad things in life come it brings the cold wind of winter [Music] south from where all the good things in life come it brings the warm wind of summer and the growing season [Music] west where the sun sets in the evening it brings the end of day and it can also be said the end of life [Music] the stories fred bradley tells once helped the cherokee to understand the movement of the sun across the sky the thunder and the heavens and everything in between take for instance the story of the pattern on the turtle shell in the story the turtle was cast upon some large rocks which broke him apart into many pieces but possessing magic towers the turtle sang a magic song that drew the pieces back together and made him whole so when you look at a turtle the shell there you can see all over it that pattern of those many pieces drawn back together there are several stories concerning the first fire not only from the cherokee but other tribes also [Music] in one story brother raven dropped the fire to the earth which fell among a large pile of rock and i happen to have my pocket a rock and a piece of steel that fire that brother raven dropped fell among these rocks and if you know how to find these rocks and with a piece of steel you can strike them together and bring back that fire that was put there many many years ago yeah flint flint rock the song of the sky loom is a cherokee wish to live a better life oh our mother of the earth or our father the sky your children are we then we for us a garment of brightness may the warp be the red light of morning may the fringes be the falling rain may the border be the standing rainbow that we may walk fittingly where birds sing that we may walk fittingly where grass is green look my children the land is dark but across the sky is a trail of light it is the ghost pathway of our departed warriors one by one the stars are lighted by the sun before he retires to his lodge for rest it is his last duty of the day this time of year when you hear the rush of the water in the streams it's time to relax put your cares behind you grab your favorite fishing pole and go fishing melvin carr has been fishing the waters of the great smoky mountains for 50 years he'll be our guide today on the heartland series you think there'll be something here probably the water's starting to change we'll get him on something there are over 700 miles of trout streams in the smoky mountains and melvin carr has fished just about every one of them now those fish can see us now oh yeah down here they can you see over the break in the white water away from us they don't see us through that flat water the least motion you can make is better about the trap say there might be a big brown in here right melvin carr is a baptist preacher and he knows almost as much about fishing as he does the bible what's the secret to catching big fish go where they are and stay out of sight and use what they want those are your three lessons that's that's the major rules we're going the other side on the way to riverville yeah i guess so okay i was afraid of those shoes ah buddy that's cool right down to my waist i think i caught a rock fish then well can you get it loose yeah he's coming down that's beautiful melvin fared a little better on one of the streams we visited he hooked a 13-inch brown trout he's got teeth even at that age he might share that a little bit directly he's plumb whooped i might drag him up across that rock above you now i'll get a hold of fish phil should i uh fish down below well or you think i'm oh just watch it you might try the spinner right where i caught that dude and get another one you might catch his pack bill it's great relaxation and it's great therapy just to get back in the sticks and climb over the rocks and listen to the river and watch the fish and nature itself not a sound of anything but the water when the water's clear and the sun and just walk along quietly if you had your druthers would you just quit everything fish oh no no i guess i'd preach first and fish next you know sound of a lonesome fiddler playing for the mountains only it's music from handmade instruments or those of our fathers down from the hills and hollers to bristol it came into knoxville and finally to nashville for all the world to hear today it's heard throughout the land and it's called tennessee music i'm bill andre and this is the heartland series music from these mountains is today heard throughout the world and it springs like a melody from within the souls of a people [Music] people used to think you know just the fiddle by itself was with beautiful music people are playing in these in these mountains they they play a long more of a lonesome tune you know i mean uh got a lonesome accent to it i just can't hardly explain it you know [Music] everybody in union county played some kind of music melodies float in and out of the hills and hollers bringing the players together [Music] it used to be years ago they thought that the fiddle and the banjo was was two good instruments that went together you know and then uh i guess about 19 in the third twenties and third is what they put a guitar with and they thought they had a pretty good man years ago when you had a fiddle and a guitar and a banjo [Music] [Music] back in these mountains i'd say there's plenty of good talent that people's never heard they make their living doing something else but they've got tunes and songs my grandfather taught me and if he were living today on these old-time tunes that i play i doubt if you could tell me and him apart from the porches of east tennessee the music sounded no longer just a man's prerogative the ladies sang too the carter family in bristol virginia fiddling john carson in atlanta cut records songs of laughter and obtained the hopes and dreams of a people were introduced to the world [Music] [Music] [Music] i just can't hardly explain it people like something to express their feeling you know it's good good to sing about if you're sad to sing sad song somebody wants today to play a good breakdown for them you know you

Channel: WBIR Channel 10

Views: 83,144

Keywords: appalachia, appalachian, appalachian mountains, archive, bill landry, bill landry heartland series dvd, cades cove, channel 10, east tennessee, edye ellis, entertainment, full episodes, full series, full volume, great smoky mountains, great smoky mountains national park, heartland, heartland series, history, smokies, tennessee, the heartland series, the heartland series bill landry, the heartland series with bill landry, tn, wbir, coal mining, turkey hunting, Sevier, Walking Horse

Id: BcmNnASTIfQ

Length: 109min 16sec (6556 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 04 2021