~ Welcome To West Virginia ~ How REDNECK Came To Be ...

I hope you will enjoy this tour of beautiful WV.

This beautiful quilt hangs in the Matewan Train Museum ...

THANK YOU ALL so much for your well wishes. I hope NEVER to go thru this medical issue again. You are all so very dear to my heart & lifted my spirits. Love you ...

West Virginia is known as 'God's Country, By God' ... the people are very warm & welcoming,

the mountains are majestic, reaching to the heavens.

This is a typical skyscape throughout the state ...

Chuck (Charles E.) Yeager. born in 1928 Myra, WV, is known as the world's most famous test pilot, few have ever matched his piloting skills. He served as a Brig. General in the US Army, tho enlisted to be a mechanic. In l997, the 50th anniversary of his first Mach One flight, he broke the sound barrier once again in an F-15, his last official flight in an Air Force plane.

Chuck led a very colorful life, had an enduring wife of his escapades ... his autobiography you will not want to put down. I enjoyed every second of this man's life ...

A lovely city nestled in the mountains of WV ...

A home nestled in the woods of the mountains ...

These next 3 pics are in reverse, sorry. The train cars go thru this station at the rate of every 2 minutes, in constant forward motion ... the huge trough has constant coal fed into it (pic 2) that feeds the (pic 3) square box which loads each car in 2 minutes ... it is quite the sight to view. Pic 1 is a view of about 500 cars as they were filled.

pic 2

pic 2

Lovely mountain florals ...

The friendly ol' fella came out to tell us that this bridge, before the floods, was about 30' down past the mailbox...

And flooded his home, too.

A mountainside view of the various colors & work that has been done here ...

Tug Valley's two most notorious pioneer families were the Hatfield's & McCoy's, separated by the river. Their feud marked at the outset by a dispute over ownership of a hog, lasted 12 years, claimed 12 lives & brought national notoriety to this region.

Matewan was a boom town supplying goods & services to the mining communities. When the miners joined the union, UMWA in 1920, the Stone Mountain Coal Co. retaliated by firing men & hiring detectives to evict miners from their company owned homes. Miners let by the police chief Sid Hatfield, confronted the detectives as they waited to catch the train home to Bluefield. Ten men were killed in the gun battle.

Red Necks derived from the use of red bandanas tied around the neck to signify union affiliation during the violent clashes between United Mine workers & owners between 1910-20.

The next pictures are from inside the Matewan train depot (above) ... if/&/or when you go to WV this journey is worth every bit of the vivid beauty & history that this state holds in her heart.

She provides many energies for us all ...