South Fork Country

When SOUTH FORK COUNTRY was first published, in 1983, the Kentucky Historical Society said that it provided 'an exceptional reading experience,' and that it 'has lasting value for the historian of early cultures, of Indian life, and of Kentucky.' Through the pages of this delightful book, the reader is transported to a land first settled by Paleo-Indian, and later taken from the Muskogean people by the feared Cherokee. In SOUTH FORK COUNTRY, the reader learns of the explorations of the Long Hunters, of Chief Doublehead's infamous exploits, of fifteen year old Andy Mounce's narrow escape from Cherokees who sought to kill him, of the drilling of the world's first commercial oil well, of Raccoon John Smith, a South Fork Country native and a founder of the Christian Church, and of General Ambrose Burnside's heroic invasion of East Tennessee, which brought peace to the troubled land of South Fork Country.SOUTH FORK COUNTRY is the story of an industrial exploitation that almost destroyed the region, but it is also the story of a grass-roots rebellion that restored the land. It is a story that merits preservation and makes a lasting contribution to the history of the southern Appalachians.

Samuel D. Perry's first magazine article was published in 1969. Since then his writing has appeared in numerous periodicals of popular history. He is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University. He served in Korea with the Military Police Corps and is active in veteran's affairs. He is retired from the U.S. Forest Service and lives, with his wife, Rita, five miles from the Big South Fork River. There, he writes, goes on long hikes in the mountains, and serves as a volunteer interpreter for the National Park Service.