Holding Rugged Ground: The Civil War Along the Staunton-Parkersburg Tpke

Michael and Carrie Kline, Talking Across the Lines

Civil War enthusiasts will be captivated by the unfolding story of the Allegheny Mountain campaigns of early 1861 punctuated by lively West Virginia fiddle tunes and songs, cradled in the ambient sounds of the surrounding country side. Digitally recorded interviews with Pocahontas and Randolph County West Virginia elders detail memories of their families’ first-hand encounters in historic battles and their efforts to carry on daily life amidst the bloody War. The social divisions, passions and violence of the era left deep traces among the citizens of the new war-born state of West Virginia still resonating in recollections of their aging descendants. This production will engage listeners through its action-packed account of the Civil War in western Virginia, told by those who carry the tales forth from earlier times. "Holding Rugged Ground" is the second in a series of seven audio history productions exploring life along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, an early toll road through the Appalachian Mountains of central West Virginia. Featuring first-hand accounts and remembered family lore of local elders, this production brings to life voices of local inhabitants and historians, to tell a story of the War that no one of them could have mustered alone. Over fifty oral history interviews were recorded and transcribed for the project, providing the grist for the script, and augmented by authentic folk music and sound effects recorded especially for the series. With major funding by a Scenic Byways grant from the Federal Department of Highways and the West Virginia Byways Program of the WV Department of Transportation, the project was made possible by administrative and financial support from the Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation, the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Alliance and Talking Across the Lines, LLC in Elkins, West Virginia. Eventually the entire series of seven productions will be here on the Talking Across the Lines podcast. Some are already here! To purchase your own CD or the entire series visit https://www.folktalk.org/shop/cds/.