Since 1795, when Peter Whitaker built the first known settlement on what is now Linefork Creek, Letcher Countians have demonstrated the perseverance and fortitude for which Appalachian people are known. The majesty of Pine Mountain in the south of the county or the rare beauty of old-growth forests that became Lilley Cornett Woods must have brought Daniel Boone to seek a paradise in "Kanta-ke." Whitesburg and Letcher County have seen their resources of timber, oil, and coal bring growth, as well as decline. With the rise of the coal industry before World War I came a steady flow of Eastern...