Donnie, I have a crazy story to tell you about! My Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather (I think it was four grates, but may have been 3) was a man named John Finley. During the French-Indian war he met a man named Daniel Boone. Granddaddy Finley lived in McDowell County North Carolina. My people from Scotland had married Cherokee people and that's how I got to be. Grandpappy told his 'brother in arms' that he knew of a great place for hunting and trapping. After that war Boone came to NC and my many great grandpa and him went on a hunting trip. In those days, a hunting trip was several days or even weeks long. Grandpappy showed Boone an old Indian trail through the hills. That old trail was the Cumberland Gap. Boone wanted to move there but thankfully Grandpa was just ready to get back to his family. They said Grandpa told him not to try to live there but the rest is history. I wreckon every Family has a 'tall-tail' in the stories and that is what I thought this was. That is until I found the Same Exact story about Grandpa showing Daniel Boone this place in dozens of different places about history. John D Finley was his name and I too am John D Finley, of the Finley or Farquhar clan of Scots and Cherokee in/from McDowell County NC... Ya'll Take Care and be safe, John
Every story needs to be remembered, the real history has been discovered in many of them. Without your greatgrandfather, Boone might have ended up in Kansas.
I love listening to your stories. Sometimes I'll be working on a quilt (finishing one my mom started) and I get this kind of nostalgic, sentimental feeling...sorry if that sounds silly.
Not silly at all!! I couldn't even work on a quilt listening to this... his voice and the way he explains everything make my eyes well up!! Not sad, just nostalgic as well!
I discovered stone furnaces in South Eastern Ohio when hiking as a kid. Was told the reason they were shut down was lack of wood for fuel. Hard to believe most all of the forest east of the Mississippi was cut down, what was left was just not accessible to be profitable. The iron mines continued after the furnaces were gone, hauled away by railroad to places where other fuel was used in more advanced furnaces. Thanks for the video takes me back to simpler times, hiking the abandoned railroad to a gost town as a kid was a great adventure.
I feel for you. Don't know Donnie's weather but mine is very beautiful nice day. I live maybe 100 to 200 some miles north of him. Caught my of limit of fresh trout this morning including 1 native trout I turn it back a loose & working on land little this evening. I just set down he put video out I was just very lucky catch it within min or 2 of the video release.
I love your narratives of history. It brings me back to the days in Lee Co Ky during the 60’s, when we would gather around in the evening, when the fog was thick in the mountains while we listened to the stories told by our elders. This makes me really appreciate my old cast iron skillets much more.
One of these days I am going to have to cross the pond and visit this part of the USA. It reminds me so much of parts of the high country where I grew up in southern New South Wales, Australia... except we have Gum Trees and not Aspens, Birch etc.. Thanks for another great video, Mr Laws. I could easily sit down and listen to you speak all day, just love that Southern accent and gentle speech.
My dad lived in Cumberland Gap when I was a kid. I'd go stay with him some weekends and a week or so in the summer. We used to walk to that furnace every time I'd visit. That's been over 30 years ago. It looked different back then. I love learning the history of it. Thank you.
These old photos and the stories that go with them are real treasures. Thank you again, Donnie, for your hard work, research and concern that future generations will know about what came before them in Appalachia.
Great story Donnie. Being a 4th generation steel worker, it really hit home. It took a lot of blood and sweat to make that iron, but eventually iron and steel became man's servant. Thanks again and God bless you!
Thank you for sharing Donnie! We just saw sights that Daniel Boone himself saw as he blazed a trail through the gap. We have an old iron furnace here in Stokes County that was burned by Stoneman's cavalry when they came through in 1865.
I like to visit there some day , put it on the bucket list . Interesting they sent iron down to Chattanooga . Just above Chattanooga , at Suck Creek and Tennessee River is the suck ( whirlpool ) that got many people traveling on flatboats . Chief John Ross ( Cherokees ) operated Ross's Landing which became Chattanooga. In Ross's time , they sent salt from upper East Tennessee and Kentucky to Ross's Landing . If my memory is correct , it was the biggest supplier of salt in the new nation . Chattanooga has always been a transportation hub , that why there was so much fighting there during the War . My ancestors was sent to Cumberland Gap during the War . May have been under the command of General Zollacoffer , not sure . And the song Cumberland Gap is a part of soul . Thanks for posting this ! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Well, what a beautiful place. Cumberland Gap is so beautiful. Thank you, Donnie. I know you have posted a lot lately, and I, for one, want to say thank you. You are a treasure. I do know it's a lot of work, but I know as for myself, I thoroughly enjoy your work. If I never see another post from you , I can truly say that you have brought some joy into my world with what I have already gotten from your channel. Again , thank you . We all love your stories. YOU ARE THE MAN!!!
You are extremely lucky to have been born and raised in the mountains. Cumberland Gap is such a beautiful place. I know that times were hard to make a living back then. I know each place across this great Country of ours tells it's own stories and each place unique from each other. You know the older I get the more It gets me down. I would love to go back in time and live my life over again but we have to just have our own memories and in our minds our own individual selves that will die away with each one of us. There is still so many places in this world that I would love to visit and see but God gave us all a beautiful planet to live on until we go home. I appreciate all of your stories and videos Mr. Donnie ..
Thanks Donnie, for teaching me something about the old ways. My ancestors supplied wood and charcoal for the iron furnaces in Cranberry NC. Hard men-Hard times-Hard work. We'll never see their likes again. Blessings on your and yours, Donnie.
A story I never heard. But I recognized Cumberland Gap right away, been there so many times That trip on the river to Chattanooga took some time, I could listen to a sweet creek running water for the rest lof my life What a gift from God and all I come from in that area back toee County, I pray I never forget just how rich I am
Thanks for the video, Donnie. I can’t even imagine the amount of work each person put into a day to keep this running! It really just staggers me on how tough these folks were … Thanks again for the history lesson. Keep 'em coming!
You sir are an amazing storyteller. This is a beautiful and serene place. I've said before that I especially love your historic videos. They preserve moments in time for future generations.
Another great documentary from Donnie. I particularly liked this one because I am an old rock hound and it relates to mining. There are numerous old iron smelters and iron deposits here in NC as well. They are very similar to the one at Cumberland Gap. I've prospected some of these and the ores here included limonite, hematite and magnetite mostly. Some of these deposits had associated minerals with them. At the Buckhorn Mine and furnance in Harnett Co., NC the ore was mainly magnetite, some of it crystallized and fairly magnetic and it was associated with garnet. Another famous one was the Endor Iron furnace near Cumnock, Lee Co., NC. It operated around 1861 and helped supply iron for the Confederate army during the Civil war. Ore was processed from deposits along the nearby Deep River. Another well known one was located in Stokes Co., NC called the Moratock furnance. There were many throughout the state, too many to list here. Other than iron, gold was mined extensively in NC and silver and copper to a lesser degree. In fact, the Silver Hill mine in Davidson Co., NC operated during the Civil War for the production of lead used in Confederate bullets and due to the hastiness of getting the ore processed and to the bullet molds, allot of silver wasn't extracted from the lead so many of the bullets made from the ore were almost pure silver! These old iron, gold, silver, copper mines also produced byproduct lead, zinc and other secondary ores. Donnie your home state is blessed with an abundance of coal but North Carolina also had a small amount of coal production from an area known as the Deep River Coal fields located in Lee, Moore and Chatham Counties in central NC. This deposit was a metamorphosed ancient Triassic layer of sediment heavily faulted and contained medium volatile bituminous coal seams. Two mines were the chief producers the Little Egypt and the Coal Glen mines. The mines operated from about 1854 up sporadically into the early 1950's until the seams were found to be following fault lines that dipped sharply making mining dangerous and more expensive so mining in the area ceased. There is an estimated 110 million tons of reserves there today still. Much of this coal was used also in the furnaces of the local iron smelters they say. Like you Donnie, I love our history too and sadly it isn't being taught in our schools and when our generation is gone I hope that it is not forgotten.
Donnie, we have a lot of iron furnaces here where I live in Tennessee. It was called pig iron because the troughs looked like a piglet away from his mother in a row with little offshoot from that. They had slag which is a blue colored glass that they had to break up & discard from the top of the pig iron. I have a lot of slag here at my house. It's very pretty and can be made into jewelry if you want. Thank you for the video! If you ever want to know if there was a iron furnace in a certain place, just look for the slag.
Donnie, I really appreciate this video. My wife and I love history and visiting historical sites; in fact, we are planning to visit this place this year.
Donnie, I just discovered your channel yesterday. What a pleasure! I was born in the late 40's and spent every summer growing up at my grandmother's house in Beersheba Springs on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. Listening to your voice takes me back there. Swimming in the Collins River (cold!!!) Getting Nehi Grape and Double Cola at the B M Brown general store. Listening to the old folks talk about stuff. Seeing the old shacks deserted and overgrown after people left during the Depression. Hearing about the ghosts that roamed the mountains and hollows. Food cooked on an old Franklin wood stove. We had a real ice box, with 50 pond blocks of ice we'd got in McMinnville. Pigs cows horses mules. Thank you for doing all this.
Doc, you (and Donnie) make me almost wish I'd lived a different and simpler life and never left my home in Virginia. Nehi Grape (and Grapette), Franklin stoves and ice boxes...we had an ice plant in town that made deliveries and sold the best watermelons I've ever eaten. My grandfather made the transition from length wood to split wood to coal to oil during my youth and I've toted many scuttles of the first three I won't copycat Donnie's channel but there are many stories I'd love to tell or hear told.
thank you for telling the stories of these places. I am old and retired now but never too late to learn and I appreciate knowing it's still there for all who want, to enjoy. best to you and yours.
Great history video Mr Donnie 👌 I really enjoy your videos all of them! Thanks for sharing with us and glad you got to go home for a spell!! God bless you and your family 🙏❣️🙏
That was interesting. I can't help but think how hard it would have been to keep that at certain temperature. That would hard, dangerous work. Plus breathing in the smoke all day while your shoveling. I don't know why I think that way but I do. Thank you for sharing more history Donnie.
Great video donnie, thats exactly the trail i commented on a coup days ago that the park destroyed. I guess its the boone trail that starts right behind the furnace that goes up the mtn they butchered!. I was so glad to see you post a video about this, i remembr it without the guardrails as well, anyway thks for the video just had to comment again since it was relevant to the area about the trail. Sad that nobody will ever see the trail as it was again.
Thank you Donnie for keeping our history alive- I live almost as far north in Minnesota as you can get, but my hearts always been down south- you are a natural gifted and passionate story teller- if not for rare people like yourself, much would be lost- much peace and good health to you and your family- would love to meet you sometime on my way thru- Best wishes. Ely, Minnesota
I've lived here (Barbourville Ky) my whole life (51 years), and this is the first real history of the iron furnace that I've heard told. I remember this areas from the time I was a kid (in the late 70's and into the 80's. I remember climbing up the creek to the store and the cave at the top, and going thru the cave, and then later driving that road to Va when that was the main road over the mountain. It's amazing what changed in all those year. I never even knew there were buildings around the furnace.
Great job! Good researching and pictures! Im a big fan of iron furnaces, you did a great job explaining the operation and the incredible story of making iron! A time gone but there legacy remains!
Great history lesson Donnie. The labor it took to produce and transport those iron engots is mind blowing.🤯 It sure would've been nice for the railroad to have been there at the time. You put in some work yourself researching to put this video together. Beautiful place that I've got to put on my bucket list to visit.❤
Wonderful video as always.the farm next to mine has the remains of a ore furnace in the field done from the barn here in Central pa. just amazing how things were done back then.
Mr laws. My name is JW walker .I'm from Salisbury NC you no it's not far from you .I love them old hills two .but I won't two say .I love the show sir. And can't wait two git home from work two see if you have a new video ha ha ha ..you bring back my childhood sometimes and we'll it's just a great show. Oh. Use some bangjoe. Music some bluegrass.ha ha ha. .but keep the videos coming.love um all. Walker family Salisbury NC
Donnie I’m glad I found your video’s this is true stories of lost times.I grew up in south east Wva I now live in Oh I have property in southern Oh 6 miles from main road on A dead end road almost completely off grid. My family’s are from the south my granddaughter family is from East Tennessee I come from a lot of history back when times and people were true life was real thank you for bring all this history to attention you can’t change history even tho they are trying.
Love these old photos! Back in the day when men were men and the whole family pitched in to help family, friends and neighbors! I cant even imagine the amount of men that would have developed Black Lung just keeping that furnace going. Ive always said, The simplest of times were the hardest of times! Thanks Donnie! Love your stories, photos, narration and history! 😃
Not trying to be picky but black lung comes from coal particles (as I guess Donnie knows). You can get lung disease from charcoal or plain old wood burning though.
"Back when men were men.." that's a pretty messed up statement. I bet you wouldn't appreciate me saying, "back when women knew their places - the kitchen and the bedroom".
@@donyoung7874 Doesnt bother me. I dont get butt hurt over statements. Men back then took what ever job they could get to provide for their families. They didnt have an option to say No, that job is beneath me or I dont want to work. The men back then worked hard for so little. Men now a days have more options compared to then.
How far are you from konnarock va? I have 22 acres there and often see you in areas very close to there. Do you live close by? I know this is about 3 hours away but in other videos it looks like you're in the area. Have you done any videos on backbone rock? My grandparents neighbor in Bristol Ms Jessie her father took the first lick on the rock when they were opening it for the railroad that was going to run thru it.
That's some beautiful country Donnie. And the history behind it is as beautiful and interesting as the Gap itself . I'm in North Mississippi but would be worth a trip up just to see and feel the beauty and the history of the area. Thank you for such an enlightening and educational video. Stay safe.
Are I am #1? We got them coal ovens they made coke with back in late 1800's to early 1900's. I am just lucky just set down enjoying little work & very beautiful day in Appalachian Mts
Next time I go through there on vacation, I gotta stop and check the old furnace out. I didn't know about that. Thanks for sharing. There's a big furnace still standing near the area I grew up in. It's Fitchburg Furnace in Estill County, KY. There's another one near Owingsville, KY that goes back to late 1700s I believe. I always look forward to your videos. You do a good job on them.
You have to put yourself back in the day, there wasn't any plastics everything was made from iron. Every decent size town had 2 or 3 foundries so iron was in demand. I collect cast iron cookware and you learn a lot about the old times doing that. My wife and I have 100+ year old skillets that look and work as well today as when they were new. I wish they could talk, they've seen the first car, airplane, WWI, the telephone, the Great Depression, WWII, moon landing, etc.
Agreed, I collect old iron too. Much research has been done on the "imperfections" in old iron that produced desirable qualities that today's purer iron doesn't have. Damascus steel and the iron in oriental swords are examples. My old skillets are like yours, indestructible. You can't beat perfection.
@@haroldwilkes6608 I don't have any but if you get the same qualities in a new skillet it'll cost $140 - $160 for a #8. You can go to an antique store or yard sale and get the real thing for $35 or less. I restore old iron for two stores so there are good ones out there and ready to use. Fully restored pieces doesn't last long and I usually get the worst of the worst that they can't sell. If it isn't warped, pitted, or cracked, it'll clean up like new after 70 - 100 years of use. It helps to pay my way in the hobby and they save the special pieces for me. Happy hunting !
@@turdferguson5300 I've had some Wagner and Griswold but my favorite was an old chuckwagon skillet I got out in Idaho, neatly 3' round and heavy as a horse, fill it with steak and eggs, it weighed a ton. The handle was two-handed, over two foot long, completely hand made. Also got the camp cooks apron, a chunk of raw leather at least a quarter inch thick to protect against grease from using that skillet and the huge bean pots they cooked with. Both donated to a museum.
@@haroldwilkes6608 That would be cool to find something like that. I live below Donnie in SE Tennessee and the largest skillet I have is a #14 which is like a #3 compared to your skillet. This was the last #14 I've seen in a long time. Guess Tennessee won't go down in history for it's wagon trains. I have a theory about that, once they got in these mountains nobody wanted to leave. I can't blame em, my wife and I haven't left either. lol
16 cords of wood. Oh my word. In one day? I get tired thinking bout that. Thank You Mr. Laws. Stay Safe. I found a Sweet Sixteen case today walking with my Dog Hans in the woods. I said "Shotgun Shell " and thought bout Your Show. Thanks Mr Laws. God Bless Brother ♥️👍🙏🐕🇺🇸♥️
Donnie,
I have a crazy story to tell you about!
My Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather (I think it was four grates, but may have been 3) was a man named John Finley. During the French-Indian war he met a man named Daniel Boone. Granddaddy Finley lived in McDowell County North Carolina. My people from Scotland had married Cherokee people and that's how I got to be.
Grandpappy told his 'brother in arms' that he knew of a great place for hunting and trapping. After that war Boone came to NC and my many great grandpa and him went on a hunting trip. In those days, a hunting trip was several days or even weeks long. Grandpappy showed Boone an old Indian trail through the hills.
That old trail was the Cumberland Gap. Boone wanted to move there but thankfully Grandpa was just ready to get back to his family. They said Grandpa told him not to try to live there but the rest is history.
I wreckon every Family has a 'tall-tail' in the stories and that is what I thought this was. That is until I found the Same Exact story about Grandpa showing Daniel Boone this place in dozens of different places about history. John D Finley was his name and I too am John D Finley, of the Finley or Farquhar clan of Scots and Cherokee in/from McDowell County NC...
Ya'll Take Care and be safe, John
Every story needs to be remembered, the real history has been discovered in many of them. Without your greatgrandfather, Boone might have ended up in Kansas.
WOW awesome story! Thanks for sharing that my friend.
I love listening to your stories. Sometimes I'll be working on a quilt (finishing one my mom started) and I get this kind of nostalgic, sentimental feeling...sorry if that sounds silly.
I know the feeling. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Not silly at all!! I couldn't even work on a quilt listening to this... his voice and the way he explains everything make my eyes well up!! Not sad, just nostalgic as well!
Doesn’t sound silly at all. It’s beautiful.
I just told my wife last night about Donny's voice, and stories. So relaxing, regardless of the content.
@@fredkeele6578 Wow! Thank you.
I’m 70 yrs old and I just learned what the iron furnace of Cumberland Gap was all about thanks to you, I guess your never to old to learn
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I discovered stone furnaces in South Eastern Ohio when hiking as a kid. Was told the reason they were shut down was lack of wood for fuel. Hard to believe most all of the forest east of the Mississippi was cut down, what was left was just not accessible to be profitable. The iron mines continued after the furnaces were gone, hauled away by railroad to places where other fuel was used in more advanced furnaces. Thanks for the video takes me back to simpler times, hiking the abandoned railroad to a gost town as a kid was a great adventure.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Yay On A Cold,Rainy Spring Break Week Day In Indiana Mr Donnie Saves The Day Thank You!!!😁❤
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I feel for you. Don't know Donnie's weather but mine is very beautiful nice day. I live maybe 100 to 200 some miles north of him. Caught my of limit of fresh trout this morning including 1 native trout I turn it back a loose & working on land little this evening. I just set down he put video out I was just very lucky catch it within min or 2 of the video release.
@@Houndini Awesome! I filmed this last week after the snow came through. 75 here now and sunny. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I love your narratives of history. It brings me back to the days in Lee Co Ky during the 60’s, when we would gather around in the evening, when the fog was thick in the mountains while we listened to the stories told by our elders. This makes me really appreciate my old cast iron skillets much more.
Thanks for sharing my friend.
Marianna resting Donnie enjoyed it very much thanks again for your service buddy
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
One of these days I am going to have to cross the pond and visit this part of the USA. It reminds me so much of parts of the high country where I grew up in southern New South Wales, Australia... except we have Gum Trees and not Aspens, Birch etc.. Thanks for another great video, Mr Laws. I could easily sit down and listen to you speak all day, just love that Southern accent and gentle speech.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
My dad lived in Cumberland Gap when I was a kid. I'd go stay with him some weekends and a week or so in the summer. We used to walk to that furnace every time I'd visit. That's been over 30 years ago. It looked different back then. I love learning the history of it. Thank you.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
These old photos and the stories that go with them are real treasures. Thank you again, Donnie, for your hard work, research and concern that future generations will know about what came before them in Appalachia.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great story Donnie. Being a 4th generation steel worker, it really hit home. It took a lot of blood and sweat to make that iron, but eventually iron and steel became man's servant. Thanks again and God bless you!
WOW! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you for sharing Donnie! We just saw sights that Daniel Boone himself saw as he blazed a trail through the gap. We have an old iron furnace here in Stokes County that was burned by Stoneman's cavalry when they came through in 1865.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
We recently stayed at the Cumberland bed and breakfast! The Daniel Boone room was awesome!
Hey Stokes County!! Yadkin County here! 🙋♀️
@@shannonadams3101 Howdy neighbor! 😊
@@shannonadams3101 Hello There my friend.
Love your stories so much. You treat us all like good friends. Thank you for that!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I like to visit there some day , put it on the bucket list . Interesting they sent iron down to Chattanooga . Just above Chattanooga , at Suck Creek and Tennessee River is the suck ( whirlpool ) that got many people traveling on flatboats . Chief John Ross ( Cherokees ) operated Ross's Landing which became Chattanooga. In Ross's time , they sent salt from upper East Tennessee and Kentucky to Ross's Landing . If my memory is correct , it was the biggest supplier of salt in the new nation . Chattanooga has always been a transportation hub , that why there was so much fighting there during the War .
My ancestors was sent to Cumberland Gap during the War . May have been under the command of General Zollacoffer , not sure .
And the song Cumberland Gap is a part of soul .
Thanks for posting this !
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Awesome story! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that my friend.
Well, what a beautiful place. Cumberland Gap is so beautiful. Thank you, Donnie. I know you have posted a lot lately, and I, for one, want to say thank you. You are a treasure. I do know it's a lot of work, but I know as for myself, I thoroughly enjoy your work. If I never see another post from you , I can truly say that you have brought some joy into my world with what I have already gotten from your channel. Again , thank you . We all love your stories. YOU ARE THE MAN!!!
Thank you so much my friend. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing.
You are extremely lucky to have been born and raised in the mountains. Cumberland Gap is such a beautiful place. I know that times were hard to make a living back then. I know each place across this great Country of ours tells it's own stories and each place unique from each other. You know the older I get the more It gets me down. I would love to go back in time and live my life over again but we have to just have our own memories and in our minds our own individual selves that will die away with each one of us. There is still so many places in this world that I would love to visit and see but God gave us all a beautiful planet to live on until we go home. I appreciate all of your stories and videos Mr. Donnie ..
God has blessed me friend. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been there many times through the years. I’ve never seen those old pictures. Thanks for sharing and for the history!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks Donnie, for teaching me something about the old ways. My ancestors supplied wood and charcoal for the iron furnaces in Cranberry NC. Hard men-Hard times-Hard work. We'll never see their likes again. Blessings on your and yours, Donnie.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks for the tour and history lesson. Brutal work, indeed. We don't realize how good we have it these days!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
A story I never heard. But I recognized Cumberland Gap right away, been there so many times
That trip on the river to Chattanooga took some time, I could listen to a sweet creek running water for the rest lof my life
What a gift from God and all I come from in that area back toee County, I pray I never forget just how rich I am
Oh wow! Thanks for sharing that.
Thanks for posting this, I never knew of this structure. I really do appreciate your excellent presentation,..so informative. Thanks.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
One of my favorite places, this area. So much history there. Cumberland Gap, Pinnacle and Cujo Caverns. Thank you for sharing.
Mine too! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks for the video, Donnie. I can’t even imagine the amount of work each person put into a day to keep this running! It really just staggers me on how tough these folks were … Thanks again for the history lesson. Keep 'em coming!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
You sir are an amazing storyteller. This is a beautiful and serene place. I've said before that I especially love your historic videos. They preserve moments in time for future generations.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Another great documentary from Donnie. I particularly liked this one because I am an old rock hound and it relates to mining. There are numerous old iron smelters and iron deposits here in NC as well. They are very similar to the one at Cumberland Gap. I've prospected some of these and the ores here included limonite, hematite and magnetite mostly. Some of these deposits had associated minerals with them. At the Buckhorn Mine and furnance in Harnett Co., NC the ore was mainly magnetite, some of it crystallized and fairly magnetic and it was associated with garnet. Another famous one was the Endor Iron furnace near Cumnock, Lee Co., NC. It operated around 1861 and helped supply iron for the Confederate army during the Civil war. Ore was processed from deposits along the nearby Deep River. Another well known one was located in Stokes Co., NC called the Moratock furnance. There were many throughout the state, too many to list here. Other than iron, gold was mined extensively in NC and silver and copper to a lesser degree. In fact, the Silver Hill mine in Davidson Co., NC operated during the Civil War for the production of lead used in Confederate bullets and due to the hastiness of getting the ore processed and to the bullet molds, allot of silver wasn't extracted from the lead so many of the bullets made from the ore were almost pure silver! These old iron, gold, silver, copper mines also produced byproduct lead, zinc and other secondary ores. Donnie your home state is blessed with an abundance of coal but North Carolina also had a small amount of coal production from an area known as the Deep River Coal fields located in Lee, Moore and Chatham Counties in central NC. This deposit was a metamorphosed ancient Triassic layer of sediment heavily faulted and contained medium volatile bituminous coal seams. Two mines were the chief producers the Little Egypt and the Coal Glen mines. The mines operated from about 1854 up sporadically into the early 1950's until the seams were found to be following fault lines that dipped sharply making mining dangerous and more expensive so mining in the area ceased. There is an estimated 110 million tons of reserves there today still. Much of this coal was used also in the furnaces of the local iron smelters they say. Like you Donnie, I love our history too and sadly it isn't being taught in our schools and when our generation is gone I hope that it is not forgotten.
WOW, great story my friend. Thanks for sharing.
Great history there Donnie. Thank you. Every town had a blacksmith and without the furnas
these they would not have had iron to work.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I just love to hear your stories about old history like this, thanks for another great video thank you Donnie and God bless 🙏🇺🇸
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you Donnie as your videos are amazing and among the best RUclips has to offer.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Donnie, we have a lot of iron furnaces here where I live in Tennessee. It was called pig iron because the troughs looked like a piglet away from his mother in a row with little offshoot from that. They had slag which is a blue colored glass that they had to break up & discard from the top of the pig iron. I have a lot of slag here at my house. It's very pretty and can be made into jewelry if you want. Thank you for the video! If you ever want to know if there was a iron furnace in a certain place, just look for the slag.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Donnie, I really appreciate this video. My wife and I love history and visiting historical sites; in fact, we are planning to visit this place this year.
Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Donnie, I just discovered your channel yesterday. What a pleasure! I was born in the late 40's and spent every summer growing up at my grandmother's house in Beersheba Springs on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. Listening to your voice takes me back there. Swimming in the Collins River (cold!!!) Getting Nehi Grape and Double Cola at the B M Brown general store. Listening to the old folks talk about stuff. Seeing the old shacks deserted and overgrown after people left during the Depression. Hearing about the ghosts that roamed the mountains and hollows. Food cooked on an old Franklin wood stove. We had a real ice box, with 50 pond blocks of ice we'd got in McMinnville. Pigs cows horses mules. Thank you for doing all this.
Awesome! Welcome my friend. Thank you. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing.
Doc, you (and Donnie) make me almost wish I'd lived a different and simpler life and never left my home in Virginia. Nehi Grape (and Grapette), Franklin stoves and ice boxes...we had an ice plant in town that made deliveries and sold the best watermelons I've ever eaten. My grandfather made the transition from length wood to split wood to coal to oil during my youth and I've toted many scuttles of the first three I won't copycat Donnie's channel but there are many stories I'd love to tell or hear told.
Yes sir Donny lots of history right there in ta Gap 👍 lots of history in this small place thanks for sharing 👍
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Another Great Story about our Appalachian History. Thank you Sir
Your very welcome my friend.
Thank you for 8 minutes of peace, a visit to beautiful places and times gone by. Bless you and your family.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great history lesson. So much is lost over time and just forgotten as we go through our daily lives. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day
So true! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
thank you for telling the stories of these places. I am old and retired now but never too late to learn and I appreciate knowing it's still there for all who want, to enjoy. best to you and yours.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
How wonderful history is!!!! We could sure learn from our history!!!
Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great history video Mr Donnie 👌 I really enjoy your videos all of them! Thanks for sharing with us and glad you got to go home for a spell!! God bless you and your family 🙏❣️🙏
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you Donnie awesome video brother👍👍👍
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
That was interesting. I can't help but think how hard it would have been to keep that at certain temperature. That would hard, dangerous work. Plus breathing in the smoke all day while your shoveling. I don't know why I think that way but I do. Thank you for sharing more history Donnie.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Love learning about history in this great state! Thank you!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great video donnie, thats exactly the trail i commented on a coup days ago that the park destroyed. I guess its the boone trail that starts right behind the furnace that goes up the mtn they butchered!. I was so glad to see you post a video about this, i remembr it without the guardrails as well, anyway thks for the video just had to comment again since it was relevant to the area about the trail. Sad that nobody will ever see the trail as it was again.
Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you Donnie for keeping our history alive- I live almost as far north in Minnesota as you can get, but my hearts always been down south- you are a natural gifted and passionate story teller- if not for rare people like yourself, much would be lost- much peace and good health to you and your family- would love to meet you sometime on my way thru- Best wishes. Ely, Minnesota
Your very welcome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. Thank you. Take care up there and God bless you my friend
Congratulations on 1k and beyond. Your History knowledge is great and your story telling is awesome thanks for always sharing I learn so much
Awesome! Thank you!
Thanks Mr. Donnie for sharing this interesting piece of History.... Beautiful place... God Bless you....
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend. God bless!
Great history lesson. Thanks for sharing the pictures
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Love all the history here! Keep the excellent videos coming, please!
Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I've lived here (Barbourville Ky) my whole life (51 years), and this is the first real history of the iron furnace that I've heard told. I remember this areas from the time I was a kid (in the late 70's and into the 80's. I remember climbing up the creek to the store and the cave at the top, and going thru the cave, and then later driving that road to Va when that was the main road over the mountain. It's amazing what changed in all those year. I never even knew there were buildings around the furnace.
Thank you. So much has changed. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you Donnie,we will definitely make a trip there...
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
What a voice! ❣
I want to put it in my pocket!
Love the rich and colorful stories...thank you!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Another great video. You truly are a scholar and a gentleman. Love these vids.
I appreciate that! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great job! Good researching and pictures! Im a big fan of iron furnaces, you did a great job explaining the operation and the incredible story of making iron! A time gone but there legacy remains!
Awesome my friend. Thanks so much. Your very welcome.
Hello Donnie,
As always it’s good to hear about our history in the Appalachian Mountains. Thank you for your video ❤️🙏🏻🕊🐾🦌🌲
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that my friend.
I grew up just off of Gap Creek. This is just uphill from my childhood stomping grounds. Beautiful country. Thanks for sharing.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you Donnie, a fine tour of one beautiful and historic place. Blessings and good health to you.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great job, Donnie!
Thank you kindly! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks for sharing your videos with us. I really enjoy things that happen in the olden days
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks for the video I love to hear and see history in Kentucky and Tennessee. Thanks again.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great history lesson Donnie. The labor it took to produce and transport those iron engots is mind blowing.🤯 It sure would've been nice for the railroad to have been there at the time. You put in some work yourself researching to put this video together. Beautiful place that I've got to put on my bucket list to visit.❤
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks for sharing Donnie very enjoyable God bless
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
That's a nice story about that furnace you sure do tell a good story thanks for the video I'll be watching next one
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
My Mom and Dad took me to see the old furnace when I was a kid. I plan to take my nephew here this summer.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Really enjoyed this one Mr. Donnie. Lots of history in this one and man I love history. Thanks for sharing. GOD BLESS YOU! 🙌🏻👍🏻☀️🙏🏻😇
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Great story friend keep them coming
Thanks so much. Thanks for sharing my friend.
What a great history lesson Donnie, thank you so much!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Wonderful video as always.the farm next to mine has the remains of a ore furnace in the field done from the barn here in Central pa. just amazing how things were done back then.
That is awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Howdy Donnie- love that old history of the rural areas. That makes it more interesting and real. God bless
Glad you enjoyed it my friend. God bless you.
Thanks for sharing our forgotten history about how iron was made
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Another great history lesson.
Thank you friend.
Mr laws. My name is JW walker .I'm from Salisbury NC you no it's not far from you .I love them old hills two .but I won't two say .I love the show sir. And can't wait two git home from work two see if you have a new video ha ha ha ..you bring back my childhood sometimes and we'll it's just a great show. Oh. Use some bangjoe. Music some bluegrass.ha ha ha. .but keep the videos coming.love um all. Walker family Salisbury NC
Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Donnie I’m glad I found your video’s this is true stories of lost times.I grew up in south east Wva I now live in Oh I have property in southern Oh 6 miles from main road on A dead end road almost completely off grid. My family’s are from the south my granddaughter family is from East Tennessee I come from a lot of history back when times and people were true life was real thank you for bring all this history to attention you can’t change history even tho they are trying.
Welcome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Love these old photos! Back in the day when men were men and the whole
family pitched in to help family, friends and neighbors! I cant even imagine the
amount of men that would have developed Black Lung just keeping that furnace going.
Ive always said, The simplest of times were the hardest of times! Thanks Donnie!
Love your stories, photos, narration and history! 😃
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Not trying to be picky but black lung comes from coal particles (as I guess Donnie knows). You can get lung disease from charcoal or plain old wood burning though.
@@haroldwilkes6608 Thanks for the input! I guess I figured coal and charcoal would produce the same affect with the lungs
"Back when men were men.." that's a pretty messed up statement. I bet you wouldn't appreciate me saying, "back when women knew their places - the kitchen and the bedroom".
@@donyoung7874 Doesnt bother me. I dont get butt hurt over statements. Men back then took what ever job they could get to provide for their families. They didnt have an option to say No, that job is beneath me or I dont want to work. The men back then worked hard for so little. Men now a days have more options compared to then.
How far are you from konnarock va? I have 22 acres there and often see you in areas very close to there. Do you live close by? I know this is about 3 hours away but in other videos it looks like you're in the area. Have you done any videos on backbone rock? My grandparents neighbor in Bristol Ms Jessie her father took the first lick on the rock when they were opening it for the railroad that was going to run thru it.
100 miles or so my friend
I love your stories! Thank you for sharing
Thank you. Your very welcome my friend.
That's some beautiful country Donnie. And the history behind it is as beautiful and interesting as the Gap itself . I'm in North Mississippi but would be worth a trip up just to see and feel the beauty and the history of the area. Thank you for such an enlightening and educational video. Stay safe.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Love history like this ur one of a kind thank you ❤
I love this, much love to you and Mrs.Laws
Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you for another great story!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Love your history videos. Keep them coming!
Glad you like them! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Are I am #1? We got them coal ovens they made coke with back in late 1800's to early 1900's. I am just lucky just set down enjoying little work & very beautiful day in Appalachian Mts
No matter, Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.
@@donnielaws7020
Really it don't. I was just surprised how quick I got it like 1 to 2 mins. It was just so unexpected.
Like always, i love hearing you telling about the history.
Awesome! Thank you. Thanks for sharing that my friend. God bless.
Another Great Video Donnie.. Certainly enjoy them all.
Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I’m sorry for commenting so much sir. Thank you for sharing your videos and memories GOD BLESS
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Donnie it was very interesting and I love the old photos it was a great store and have good Day
Thanks, you too! Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank you for the history lesson. 🙏
Your very welcome.
Fascinating. When I was a kid in the uk, back in the fifties, we used to sing 'Cumberland Gap, sixteen miles to the Cumberland Gap.' Lol.
WOW, Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thank-you for your stories and God bless you ❤ 🙏 ♥
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Wonderful history, thank you 😊
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
another great video Donnie! Thank you sir!! Much love from your neighbors here in Oak Ridge!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks Donnie for sharing this story.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Very nice, really enjoyed , thank you
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
I just love learning about Americana. Thank you so much Donnie
Your very welcome my friend.
Good stuff Mr Laws. These hills are speaking through You.
Thanks for sharing my friend.
Next time I go through there on vacation, I gotta stop and check the old furnace out. I didn't know about that. Thanks for sharing. There's a big furnace still standing near the area I grew up in. It's Fitchburg Furnace in Estill County, KY. There's another one near Owingsville, KY that goes back to late 1700s I believe. I always look forward to your videos. You do a good job on them.
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Always love history lessons.
Thank you friend.
I sure did enjoy this video Donnie. Also, I did not know that just a stone's throw from where Daniel Boone's party came through the gap!! Awesome.
Glad you enjoyed it my friend. Thanks.
Such interesting history thanks Donnie
You are very welcome my friend.
You have to put yourself back in the day, there wasn't any plastics everything was made from iron. Every decent size town had 2 or 3 foundries so iron was in demand. I collect cast iron cookware and you learn a lot about the old times doing that. My wife and I have 100+ year old skillets that look and work as well today as when they were new. I wish they could talk, they've seen the first car, airplane, WWI, the telephone, the Great Depression, WWII, moon landing, etc.
Agreed, I collect old iron too. Much research has been done on the "imperfections" in old iron that produced desirable qualities that today's purer iron doesn't have. Damascus steel and the iron in oriental swords are examples. My old skillets are like yours, indestructible. You can't beat perfection.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.
@@haroldwilkes6608 I don't have any but if you get the same qualities in a new skillet it'll cost $140 - $160 for a #8. You can go to an antique store or yard sale and get the real thing for $35 or less. I restore old iron for two stores so there are good ones out there and ready to use. Fully restored pieces doesn't last long and I usually get the worst of the worst that they can't sell. If it isn't warped, pitted, or cracked, it'll clean up like new after 70 - 100 years of use. It helps to pay my way in the hobby and they save the special pieces for me. Happy hunting !
@@turdferguson5300 I've had some Wagner and Griswold but my favorite was an old chuckwagon skillet I got out in Idaho, neatly 3' round and heavy as a horse, fill it with steak and eggs, it weighed a ton. The handle was two-handed, over two foot long, completely hand made. Also got the camp cooks apron, a chunk of raw leather at least a quarter inch thick to protect against grease from using that skillet and the huge bean pots they cooked with. Both donated to a museum.
@@haroldwilkes6608 That would be cool to find something like that. I live below Donnie in SE Tennessee and the largest skillet I have is a #14 which is like a #3 compared to your skillet. This was the last #14 I've seen in a long time. Guess Tennessee won't go down in history for it's wagon trains. I have a theory about that, once they got in these mountains nobody wanted to leave. I can't blame em, my wife and I haven't left either. lol
16 cords of wood. Oh my word. In one day? I get tired thinking bout that. Thank You Mr. Laws. Stay Safe. I found a Sweet Sixteen case today walking with my Dog Hans in the woods. I said "Shotgun Shell " and thought bout Your Show. Thanks Mr Laws. God Bless Brother ♥️👍🙏🐕🇺🇸♥️
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.
Thanks again for another great video!
Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.