The Tragedy at the Cowee Tunnel

The Tragedy at the Cowee Tunnel

On December 30, 1881, 30 convicts, along with their guards, were shackled and deposited on the banks of the Tuckaseegee River near Dillboro, North Carolina, with a job to do: cross the river in a boat and then start digging out the Cowee Tunnel for the Western North Carolina Railroad.

19 of the 30 didn't make it across alive.

Today we tell that tragic story.

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Episoder(585)

An Appalachian Frontier Legend: Simon Kenton, Part One

An Appalachian Frontier Legend: Simon Kenton, Part One

Today we have a story so big we had to split it into two parts!Simon Kenton was an Appalachian explorer, longhunter and guide. His life was so filled with adventure that it became the stuff of legend,...

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French, The Alderson Lion

French, The Alderson Lion

In 1890 the circus came to Alderson, West Virginia. When the circus moved on, it left a new resident of the town, which became loved by all, well, except for one traveling salesman.Today we tell the s...

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The Amazing Life of One-Armed Jimmy

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29 Apr 202312min

The Buffalo Creek Disaster

The Buffalo Creek Disaster

In February, 1972, a coal company muck dam along Buffalo Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, collapsed after a winter of heavy snow and rain. The resulting flash flood of water and gob destroyed hom...

22 Apr 202314min

The Outlaw Otto Wood: Appalachian Escape Artist

The Outlaw Otto Wood: Appalachian Escape Artist

Otto Wood was headed in the wrong direction from a young age. As a child he learned how to make moonshine while in the care of his relatives in West Virginia, to whom he had run away from home.One thi...

15 Apr 202314min

The Flatwoods Monster

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Did some Braxton County, West Virginia, kids see a UFO back in 1952? Some folks thought so, especially after locals began exhibiting strange symptoms. Today Steve and Rod tell the tale of the Flatwood...

8 Apr 202311min

Uncle Bush's Magnificent Funeral

Uncle Bush's Magnificent Funeral

In 1938 a Roane County, Tennessee, hermit felt the pull of time. Concerned about how he was going to be remembered after he was gone and wondering if anyone cared anyway, he decided to plan and hold ...

1 Apr 20239min

Hell's Cabin

Hell's Cabin

There was once a cabin down by Sinking Creek at the foot of Droop Mountain in West Virginia, or so it's been told. That cabin was the home of a mysterious man known as "Old Hell." Some folks around th...

25 Mar 202311min

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