acter has developed his
self-reliance and resourcefulness. He may not know, or care to know, in
figures the degree of the angle at which the mountain slopes. Probably
he has never heard of the clinometer by which geological surveyors
arrive at such information. Yet the untrained mountain man seeing a
stream gushing down a steep escarpment knows how to divert it to his own
best use.

Sometimes he set his tub mill, or the wheel, at the most advantageous
point to grind his corn into meal. If, however, his house happened to be
near no stream he had a simpler method for grinding his corn, a way his
forbears learned from the Indian, or heard about through his Scotch
ancestors. He rounded two stones, about the size of the average dishpan,
with great patience. Bored a hole in the center of the top one, placed
the two in a hollowed log and patiently, laboriously poured corn, a few
grains at a time, into the opening. With the other hand he turned the
top stone by means of a limber branch attached to a rafter overhead, the
other end of which was thrust into a small hole near the rim of the top
stone. In this way he kept the top stone moving, slowly, steadily. The
Scotch called this simple handmill a quern. It was a laborious way of
grinding meal.

It has amazed men of the U. S. Geological Survey to find that the corn
patch of the mountaineer often slants at an angle of fifty degrees so
that it is impossible to plow. The mountaineer cultivates such a patch
entirely with a hoe. When the mountain side, crop and all, slides down
to the base he bears the ill luck with patience and fortitude and tries
to find a remedy. He hauls rocks to brace the earth and plants another
crop. He had no time to sit and bemoan his fate. Through such trials,
and because neighbors were so far removed, his self-reliance and
resourcefulness were of necessity developed. The mountain man learned
early to face alone the hazards of life in the forest; first of all was
defense of his home against wild beasts and the Indian. He knew the
danger to life and limb from fallen trees, treacherous quicksand,
swollen creeks, the peril of slipping mountain sides after heavy rains.
Of necessity he relied upon himself; he could not wait for a neighbor to
help pull the ox out of the ditch. He learned early to make his own
crude farm implements at his own anvil. In short, he had to be
jack-of-all-trades--blacksmith, tanner, barber, shoemaker, wagoner, and
woodsman.

Men of