Dave Tabler, Author at Appalachian History

The Long Trail of Shortia, part 1 of 2

To the great American botanist Asa Gray, Shortia galacifolia was “perhaps the most interesting plant in North America.”

It was March 23, 1929 and nothing in the path of rising Emory River was safe. The hills and mountain streams poured forth to swell the river.

Plutocracy is endeavoring to widen and deepen the chasm while the people are trying to bridge it. It’s the greatest struggle of all the ages.

Ostensibly the people who gathered at the blacksmith shop had come on business, but one was in no hurry to leave the conversation.

On St. Joseph’s Eve, she never forgot to perform the egg-in-a-glass ritual and would be the first one in the morning to hurry to the window.

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