cnd: I'm not sure I understand what you see in the poem that references the Civil War? To me it looks like the same issues that have plagued the small farmer since LONG before the 1860's. I just don't see anything in the poem to make me suspect that it's post-Civil War. It certainly COULD be, but I don't see anything that makes me think that straight off.

leeneia: I think I recall the "hollerin' woman" being a euphemism for a woman in childbirth from documents I've seen from the late 1800s and early 1900s. What do you mean by "modern"?

Guest: The Tennessee River begins at the confluence of the Holston and the French Broad Rivers, at the southeastern edge of Knoxville. Its first major tributary is the Clinch River, which joins it about 10 miles west of Knoxville, near Tazewell, Tennessee. Thus, the Tennessee River's nearest approach to Clinch Mountain is at its head, immediately upstream of Knoxville, about 25 miles southwest of the southwestern end of Clinch Mountain, northeast of Knoxville (between Luttrell and Blaine). Clinch Mountain is a ridge nearly 150 miles long and its northeastern end is near (oddly enough) Tazewell, Virginia.

The Clinch River's headwaters are a short distance east of Tazewell, Virginia. For most of its length, it runs near and parallels the northern face of Clinch Mountain. The North Fork of the Holston runs along the southern face of Clinch Mountain and its headwaters are near the OTHER side of Clinch Mountain from Tazewell.

So, I suspect that line about Clinch Mountain is talking about the headwaters of the Clinch and North Holston Rivers, two of the first three tributaries of the Tennessee, which do indeed come off of Clinch Mountain.

The geography here gives another clue about the likely age of this poem. The Holston, the French Broad, the Clinch, and the Tennessee River were all dammed by the TVA, starting in the '30s. Before that, floods along them were quite frequent: not major floods, but bad enough to flood out the poor dirt farmer along the banks. After that, the floods would have become much less common. So, probably before the '30s, which definitely includes cnd's The Fugitives, but also lots of time before that.

BB,
NightWing