The idea of Appalachia is elusive - is it a people, a place? It's actually both and more, a mountain region of remarkable beauty inhabited by people whose past was formed by its hills and hollows. Pioneer days in harsh and often isolated mountain homesteads demanded determination and ingenuity, and early Appalachians rose to the challenge, doggedly carving lives for themselves out of the forests and farming the thin mountain soil. Their spirit survives in traditions handed down through the generations and in crafts still proudly practiced today.
