ABSTRACT
Long before the southwestern corner of Virginia was discovered by coal men, this land of gently rolling hills, ridges, and winding streams was valued as a safe place for another vital human activity: hiding. As General Imboden learned in the late 1870s, its mountains and forests and narrow valley floors had cut this region off from the rest of the world. Early homesteaders found the lack of level ground so uninviting that land could not even be given away: After the Revolutionary War, many war veterans received government land grants in these mountains for their service in the Continental Army, but few of them actually settled there. Politicians had isolated the region politically as well: The state capital in Richmond was a greater distance from Wise County than the capitals of eight other states.
