The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-05-25
THE MOUNTAIN MEN.

THE MOUNTAIN MEN.
The stranger who visits the Ken
lucky mountains seldom gets beyond
the foothills To penetrate into the
real mountains Is by no means an easy
task, for the distrustful mountaineer
sees in every stranger his sworn enemy,
the internal revenue collector. His
every step is logged. and at the first
suspicious movement he finds himself
surrounded by a Gordon of desperate
men and looking down the black
throats Of a dozen rifles. If successful
in proving that he is in no way con
nected with the government hunters OF
illicit stills he finds himself the wei
come recipient of such rude hOspi-
tally as the mountains afford, while
these same men who but a moment be-
fore were ready to send dozen bull
lets into his body would now fight to
the death before one hair OF his head
could be injured.
TO one who has been in the Ten
messed mountains there is noticeable
difference between the life and con-
yersation of their people and the pc
pular magazine sketches of them; an
ndefnable something-the atmos-
phere-seems lacking. Quaint and
curious is the language Of the noun
taineers-a survival, after becoming
obsolete elsewhere of good old
Elizabethan English; the roads would
afford plenty of opportunities for the
polite Sir Walter Raleigh; the code of
hour is a survival of the old feudal,
lordly ideas of that time. says cor
respondent of the New York Recor
der, and tobacco, as in that day, is al
most deifed, while the looseness Of
morals finds a fitting parallel ir the
| court of Queen Elizabeth. These may
seem strange comparisons, but they
are nevertheless truthful ones.
The men born and reared in these
mountains are almost without eXcep
ton tall, sinewy fellows who smoke
hunt some, fish a little, drink moon
shine" a good deal, shoot and fight and
loaf. OF these things fighting is the
only one which awakens the noun
taineer to real activity and enthusiasm.
In the carrying on of these noun
tain feuds or wars the mountaineer
shows the strange make up of his
character, mixture of cowardice and
bravery: attacked and surrounded by
foes, he will stand without cry es-
Gaping him, dealing injury and death
to all in sight till literally shot to
pieces, showing bravery and con
tempt for physical pain almost super
human. On the other hand, he will
lie in ambush at the side of some lone
ly road until a member of the hated
family-man, woman or child, it mat
tiers not which-comes along, shoot
them down without warning, and for
ever after look back upon the deed as
something for which he deserves
praise rather than condemnation.
The only men among the Tennessee
mountaineers who really work with,
any regularity are those engaged in
making ''moonshine" There is 10
place in the country better adapted to
this purpose than right here in the un
known and almost inaccessible re-
ceses Of the Tennessee and Kentucky
mountains. The hills are honeycomb-
| ed with caves, some small, some large,
with one opening, or with many, ex-
tending III network of passages and
chambers miles and miles under
ground, unexplored save by the noun
taineer. In these caves, the entrances
carefully hidden from prying ewes,
the approaches guarded by desperate
| and determined men, are the Illicit
stills steaming and reeking with the
fragrances of John Barleycorn, I'm
stamped with the seal of government
| approval. Here the mountain men
bring their corn and take back Jug
Of their favorte beverage.
1t Is mistake to think. as some
people seem to, that every mountain
eer runs private still for the benefit
of his household, but / have vet to see
one OF the residents OF the Kentucky
mountains who did not have at least
one or more friends, neighbors or ac-
qualntances who were directly or in
directly connected with band of
moonshlners, and who was not inter
ested IN proportion to his hatred of
legitimate whisky in the prosperity of
these friends, neighbors or acquaint
ances. In the actual maintenance of
these illicit stills there is little to be
feared from the internal revenue col
lectors, for from the cradle every man
and woman has been taught to hate
these men with hatred which knows
no bounds. During the French Ever
sole feuds In Perry county, and when
the faction war was at its height,
either family ready and eager to shoot
a member of the other on sight, a
member Of the Eversole elan learned
that arald was about to be made by
the government officers on private
still operated by members of the
French family. His hatred ofthe col
lector was SO much greater than his
sworn hatred of his family enemies
that at great personal risk to himself
he conveyed information of the ex-
pected raid to the French faction in
time Tor them to effectually thwart the
plans of the officers.
Few, If any, outside the actual band
OF men operating an illicit still know
= mt lZr