We tend to think of our pioneer ancestors traveling in those big covered wagons along tree lined roads through tall forests, shooting game from the wagon seat for the evening meal and a couple of milk cows following behind the wagon, children picking berries as they ran along the trail but was it really like that for most families, I doubt it. Many families did not own a wagon and made do with an ox cart and a couple of steers, and it was possible to put a yoke on the milk cow and get there. We must also remember that many trails were not suitable for wagons and people carried all their worldly possessions on two poles pulled by a horse with the small end of the poles dragging over the rocks and through the creeks. When Daniel Boone was sent by Henderson to clear the road to their fort site in Kentucky, the trail was so narrow and rough, Henderson and the settlers he had gathered had to leave the wagons in the vicinity of Powell Valley and use pack horses to carry the necessary supplies into Kentucky. Moving to the frontier settlements was never easy. Many times wagons had to be dismantled and moved over rough places on the trail and reassembled and reloaded when the road got better ahead. Our ancestors who got up the courage to make such moves were either very brave or just plain "crazy" but they moved westward inspite of all the obstacles they faced, we should be proud of their accomplishments large and small... G. Lee Hearl Authentic Appalachian Storyteller Abingdon, Va.