Nestled in the heart of Appalachia.

The University of Virginia's College at Wise is where students experience unique regional culture and the great outdoors.

UVA Wise empowering students to learn and lead in their communities and the world.

[dramatic music] [Joshua Deel] Scott County, Virginia.

A place full of history.

[dramatic music] And discoveries that will surprise you at every turn... from natural wonders to music legends.

-Johnny Cash told me this story once.

I don't know why he told me.

We were just, it was just two of us.

And we were talking about... [dramatic music] I've heard it said, "Where we are affects who we are."

And I think we have the chance to understand ourselves better if we understand where we come from.

Hi, my name's Josh, and I'm producing this series with PBS Appalachia to explore the towns that so many people still call home, their hometown, to unearth remarkable stories and the people behind them.

Hometowns is about exploring the communities that make small-town America unique.

This season, I'll take you on a journey off the beaten path through Southwest Virginia.

And don't get me wrong, this place has its warts, but if that's all I showed you, you'd miss out on the remarkable beauty of its natural wonders and the rich depth of its cultural heritage, that in a sense, are at the heart of what it means to be an American.

[♪♪♪] Scott County is located in deep Southwest Virginia, bordered by Tennessee to the south.

Like much of the region, it has a history of hotly contested ground, of fiercely held territory, during the passage of both time and civilization.

In a sense, this place embodies the ultimate game of Finders Keepers than just about anywhere I've explored yet.

[♪♪♪] [Bob McConnell] The first raids began at around 1770, probably 1760, when the whites people first began to come in the area.

Initially, the Indians were curious, they traded, but when they began to realize that the white people wanted land, that's what the conflict was.

You see, the Indians had no concept of land ownership.

And that's the only reason the white people were here, they were after land.

-Daniel Boone had started the Wilderness Trail from basically the Kingsport area of Tennessee and Scott County into Boonesborough and about 200 miles up there near Louisville, Kentucky.

Boone was hired, he was a hired hand by a guy named Colonel Richard Henderson out of North Carolina.

And basically, he was, Henderson was a real estate developer, in today's terms.

He bought the property to resell it, and Boone was going to guide people, cut a road and guide them up into places where he had sold the land.

The edge of the wilderness at that time was right there at Moccasin Gap .

And it was the line, the Indian Donelson Line, a survey line, came down along the edge of the Appalachian Ridge and ended at Moccasin Gap.

And the land west of that was to remain, into perpetuity, for the Native Americans, according to the English Crown.

And west of that was to be for the English settlers.

Well, we know how that story ends, but that was the intent at the time.

And of course, what Henderson did was declared illegal by the Crown because they weren't supposed to negotiate with the Indians themselves, and he wasn't supposed to be purchasing land in Kentucky.

And it turned into a huge mess of land being claimed and reclaimed and et cetera, et cetera.

-And so that's when the conflict began to develop.

That's why that Donelson Indian Line was developed.

There were so many incursions into Indian territory, which was producing an increasing number of raids.

So the idea was, okay, we'll strike a line in the sand here and you white folks stay east of the line, you can build all the farmsteads you want to, but you can't go across the line.

Well, that didn't stick.

No treaty this country has ever made with the Indians ever stuck.

Chief Bob Benge, his mother was a Cherokee and his father was a French trader.

He literally hated the white people.

And he led a band of renegade Indians, basically, a mixed band of Shawnee and Delaware and Cherokee in the area, and raided and killed families.

So there was movement in this area.

And of course, as the Indians became aware of the intent of the white people, then the raids became more common.

The Wilderness Trail that came through Scott County was an immigrant trail.

And the geography was pretty rough.

The Allegheny Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains were formidable barriers to these people in the 18th century trying to get west.

The few people that had the resources came down the Ohio River.

-The Blockhouse was the gathering point for many of the people who were gonna take the trip into Kentucky and the Midwest.

The Blockhouse isn't made out of blocks.

It's made out of timber.

It's unique in its construction in that it's built to be a defensive area.

The unique features are it's not logs.

It's, you know, timbers squared off.

There's no chinking.

So you can't knock out the chinking, which the Native Americans would do and shoot in through the chinking.

The chimney is built on the inside, not on the outside.

Typically, they would be on the outside.

And as you can see, the second story overlaps the first story, so they would have firing ports above to either dump water, to put out fires they may start, or to shoot down if they came up and tried to set the place on fire.

They would gather there with 10, 12, 15 or more people until they had sufficient weaponry to safely make the passage into Kentucky.

It wasn't always the safest place to go.

There were, of course, the constant threat of Indian raids, but there were also just plain old criminals hiding along that trail that liked to prey on people who were making that trip.

And so, they would go in groups, and they would meet at the Anderson Blockhouse and make the trip.

And about 300,000 people, over the years from about 1780 until 1830, '40, made that trek.

And that was the major thoroughfare from Scott County into Kentucky, into the Midwest, into the New World.

It went through Moccasin Gap, which is, if you want to see one of the more historic gaps, Moccasin Gap in Weber City, Gate City, is really significant.

Basically, Boone was following already-established Buffalo Trace, elk trails, and the Great Warriors' Path.

The Indians had a path of their own, and he followed much of that path from Moccasin Gap, went over Kane Gap, which is on Powell Mountain, up into Cumberland Gap, and then to Cumberland Gap, then into Kentucky.

So he made use of the three major gaps over the three major mountain ranges in making his trek.

[Joshua Deel] Not only offering reflections on the more distant history of this place, conflicts between Natives and pioneers, the Civil War, and more recently, the flow of out-of-towners, Bob provided further insights as a seventh-generation Scott County resident, indicating perhaps where things are now heading on this proverbial immigrant trail.

-I won't say we're reclusive.

We're Scots-Irish.

We don't want anybody messing in our business.

And because of that, people that have ideas that are progressive, that really could provide growth, we aren't interested in them.

And because of that, you know, typically our government comes from the citizens of the county, and typically our government, elected government, reflects the wishes and the desires of the people.

There have been some progress made over the years, but not as much as there could have been.

I think 50 years from now, things will be quite different.

I really believe that.

[♪♪♪] [Joshua Deel] Understanding the history of Scott County a little better and its role in the immigrant trail that is the story of Appalachia, I made a nearly obligatory stop at the legendary Carter Fold to explore what it is about this place that gave rise to such legendary music icons who themselves embody the mountains.

[upbeat music] [Rita Forrester] Johnny Cash told me this story once.

I don't know why he told me.

We were just, it was just two of us, and we were talking about his travels overseas and all the places he'd been, and he said, "What amazes me most is," he said, "I can take my show and go anywhere overseas."

And he said, "They know my songs."

But he said, "When we get to the Carter Family segment of the show, no matter what language they speak, or what country we're in, those people know those songs in English, and they sing along."

Now I'm the director of the Carter Fold or the Carter Music Center here in Hiltons, Virginia.

It's a job that fell in my lap when my mom, Janette, passed in '06.

She is actually the person who started this back in 1974, and she is the middle child of A.P.

and Sarah Carter, who were two of the original three Carter family, A.P., Sarah, and Maybelle.

[Joshua Deel] Maybelle was A.P.

Carter's sister-in-law.

She was married to his brother, Ezra Carter.

They had three daughters, the youngest of which was June Carter.

She was first cousins with Rita's mom, Janette.

While June and Johnny Cash set off to make music in Nashville, Janette stayed here in Scott County and started the Carter Family Fold.

[Rita Forrester] She said, "I'm gonna start music shows in the little store."

She had inherited just this little building, and at the time, people were growing tobacco in here.

I mean, it was-- we had to do a lot to get it ready.

And we all said, "Mom, are you sure you wanna try this?

You know, we're not in the middle of the city.

We're in the middle of the country."

"I'm sure."

So she did it, and the very first show, people were lined up all the way down the blacktop, out into the parking lot.

The show had to be taken out onto the porch.

So, it was more than she anticipated.

And then, it didn't take it long, maybe a couple years 'til it was beyond the capacity of this little one-room store.

This one-room store is an actual country store that my granddad, A.P.

Carter, not only built, but ran as a country store 'til just prior to his death.

And we're getting ready to celebrate our 50th anniversary next year.

[Joshua Deel] Wow.

[Rita Forrester] Be 50 years of the Fold, so.

[Joshua Deel] My goodness.

[Rita Forrester] I can't, I can hardly believe it.

[Joshua Deel] Yeah.

[Rita Forrester ] I was a teenager when it began, and I've watched a lot of things grow since then.

And I think my mom never envisioned when she started it that it would grow like it did, or that there would be the interest there was.

I know one night, not too long before she, well, it's before she got sick, but she died in '06, but she looked out at the crowd, and she said, "You know, I don't know how these people find us from so far away."

And she said, "I think it's got something to do with that net thing."

Of course, she's talking about the internet, which she never used or bothered to find out about.

[♪♪♪] My granddad did most of his writing and collecting and gathering, like he'd gather a verse or a chorus for a song, and he'd go in these remote hills and hollers.

A lot of times, he'd end up stranded, and have to spend the night looking for songs.

You know, my mother would go with him to help him collect songs, 'cause he didn't write well.

He had a fine motor tremor that bothered him all his life.

He only had a third grade education, but he was a very articulate man, and he was self-educated .

Well, they brought over the ballads and the music from Europe, and the Irish, the English, you know, the Irish jig and the fiddle tunes, the English ballads, the gospel music, a lot of it, it was brought over.

And I think the mountains not only kept the people here that immigrated, because when they got here, they saw, I realized that when we went to Ireland, they saw something that looked like where they had been, and this was it.

And the Irish are a people that, they cling together, and that's what people do here.

And I had not realized that until I actually saw it.

It made me realize that they felt comfortable.

They stay here.

You know, I think my granddad just had this big, open heart, and he loved to meet people.

He loved to hear their stories, and he loved, he was afraid that the music in the mountains would die, and he wanted to be sure that it was preserved.

And if you think about it, that's the way Europe preserved their history and the countries that they immigrated from.

A lot of the ballads, you know, Barbara Allen , that's a ballad that's got history.

If you listen to all the Carter Family songs, there is a moral message, not-- there's a message, but it's generally a moral message.

And a lot of their catalog is gospel music.

I mean, it's about how close you should be to God, you know, take care of your family, loving the home that you came from, you know, My Clinch Mountain Home , and how he loved it.

And they did love it.

And I love it.

You know, I can't envision being anywhere else.

But yeah, I kind of think the mountains are the birthplace of what, look at Ralph and Carter Stanley and where they came from.

They didn't go to Bristol till Farm and Fun Time came about.

-Right.

-You know, they weren't at the Sessions, but they sure made music history.

Think about where all of American music comes from.

This kind of music.

[gentle music] [Joshua Deel] The mountains here hold many surprises, from who have called them home to other incredible discoveries.

[gentle music] Descending 400 feet down cliff gorges under Purchase Ridge, I find myself in what some have referred to as the eighth wonder of the world, Natural Tunnel.

[gentle music] At the mouth of this naturally carved tunnel, over 800 feet in length, I'm encircled by a spectacular gorge basin.

It's said Daniel Boone was likely the first European to see it in the 1700s.

The South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad originally laid track through the tunnel in the late 1890s for passenger trains.

And today, you'll see coal trains such as Norfolk Southern and CSX making use of the tunnel, along with a steady flow of foot traffic, seeking to discover its natural wonder.

[train horn blaring] [♪♪♪] [upbeat music] After hiking all around Scott County, I felt like grabbing a bite to eat.

[upbeat music] Along the way, I saw some curious things, chased them down some old gravel roads, only to find some dead ends.

[upbeat music] I also saw signs from yesteryear, but then decided to head off to Gate City to learn more about the hometown of recent NBA Dunk Contest winner, Mac McClung.

[upbeat music] So why do you stay in Gate City?

-It's part of me now.

It's part of me, I can't get it out.

I can't get it out.

-[Joshua Deel] Yeah.

-It's one of those things that...

I was reading something this morning.

We're all called to do something in this world, and I feel like I've been called to do it.

Can't get away from it.

-[Joshua Deel] Yeah.

-Can't get away from it.

I don't know, Gate City is, to me, more than anything else, it's down-home, it's family.

It's not we-they, it's we.

I mean, you go to the football game, my son played on state championship team, 1997.

It's we.

It's not we-they, it's we.

And where I come from, or where we used to live, it was we-they.

But... that's just the way I feel.

I mean, I feel like they're family, they're, I'm part of them, they're part of me.

I mean, they'd do anything for you.

These are down-home people.

Down-home people, and that's why I love them.

That's why I love them.

[Joshua Deel] Cotton has really put his money, as well as his sweat equity, where his mouth is, to invest in and revitalize Gate City.

His words made a huge impression on me that we're all called to do something.

And just like Cotton, the next folks I visited have found what that is, right here, on their multi-generational farm in Scott County.

[Dr. Marc Bradley] Not only was it home, there's just a diverse, rich culture here.

But I think, you know, when we think of zoos a lot of times, our zoos are in the middle of the city, you know.

They may be beautifully landscaped, but the outside is surrounded by city, by traffic, interstates.

And so, this was a great location for the animals to have a natural environment around them, you know.

And when you see animals in a natural environment, you end up getting animals that engage in natural behavior.

So, you know, some of the things that maybe an animal in one of your metropolitan zoos may not get an opportunity for, you know, these animals do.

They don't hear an interstate, you know.

You can hear gibbons in the background, you can hear our native birds in the background, they can watch ground squirrels and chipmunks and tree squirrels, all kinds of different things.

You know, our cheetah likes to watch deer, you know, in the fields adjacent to her enclosure.

So, lots of things that they can enjoy just from a natural perspective as far as enrichment goes.

I've got an 11-year-old daughter, Kashtan, who was born here at the zoo and has been here since she was two days old.

So, we've backpacked her through the zoo while we work.

She's ridden around in wheelbarrows and done late-night hay pickups and that sort of thing.

And, you know, it's become something that she loves.

And, you know, a couple of years ago, we were approached by a film crew about doing a documentary here at the zoo.

And, you know, we kind of hashed out some different ideas, but they wanted to bring about a program that was, you know, it was educational, it was family-oriented, and it was just kind of that good, clean, Andy Griffith -type atmosphere for a program.

And so, they started that a couple years ago, started filming.

The program is called "Kashtan's Wildlife in the Zoo," and it highlights the zoo through a child's eyes who's grown up in the zoo.

There's a lot of behind-the-scenes footage that visitors would never have an opportunity to see or know about just because it's stuff that's going on, you know, even after hours.

Initially, you know, Southwest Virginia has had maybe a stigma attached to it that there's no educated people in Southwest Virginia, or there's nothing fun to do in Southwest Virginia.

And I think, you know, that was a stigma we initially had to overcome.

And, you know, originally, when people would come to the zoo, I think they were expecting a retired circus tiger with three legs and one eye, you know, but were pleasantly surprised to see not only the amazing and unique animals that we have here but the world-class breeding operations that we have going on here.

So, it's been-- it's taken time, I think, for people to realize, you know what?

There are things in this region that are worth going to see.

But-- and now we see people from, you know, all 50 states, nearly every country, every year.

If I didn't say there were times we thought, you know, maybe a different location, you know, would have been better, you know, I'd be lying because with this area comes its own challenges as well.

You know, you-- when you come to the zoo here, it is a destination.

It's not something you've just driven by and you thought, "Oh, okay, we'll stop in."

You know, you have to make it a point because we're 20 minutes, you know, 30 minutes from a lot of your major things that are going on.

So, that was something that was in the back of our minds, or you're off the beaten path, you know.

It comes with its benefits, but it comes with its drawbacks as well.

But I love the area, I love the people here.

I think your folks from Southwest Virginia are some of the kindest, most helpful people in the world.

And I've lived everywhere, so I've met lots of different cultures, and I think the folks that are in this region are some of the best there are.

Scott County is diverse.

It's unique.

Scott County is beautiful, and Scott County's home.

[Joshua Deel] Scott County is home.

From legends to locals, I'm confident this place will find its way into the future.

[classical music] [music fades out] Nestled in the heart of Appalachia.

The University of Virginia's College at Wise is where students experience unique regional culture and the great outdoors.

UVA Wise empowering students to learn and lead in their communities and the world.