Appalachia’s Storyteller: The Rise & Fall of Appalachia  

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Proof of how dangerous the 'love of money' really is & the harm it can cause from just one man being infected with it.

I’m a woodsman. I work with oak, cedar, elm, pecan, hickory, etc. Each tree species is different. Some have nuts, some cut well, some burn well….it seems that the chestnut tree had it all. Such a shame.

This story makes me cry everyday. My family has many pieces of furniture from 100s of years back made of chestnut. I seen young ones seeming to try to come back and I pray that God will bring them back to us. I may not live long enough to see it fully but I plan to go back every year to watch over the growth I've seen

I can't help but think how mindless and careless greed for profit has doomed so much over decades and centuries. The extinction of a good way of life, wildlife, natural forestry specific to and necessary for a particular region, are exposed in this brilliant documentary. So sad, yet the greed to deplete essential natural resources doesn't stop. 😥😥😥😥😥

So it sounds like God had made a literal mountain paradise and man wrecked it. What God gives as a blessing, can be taken away if it's taken for granted. Those trees and their story is amazing.

Since this is now 2022, listening to this story I noticed a few parallel items that indicated to me that the more things change,......well, you get the idea. Man is bound to repeat his errors, whether he knows better or not. And, always at the expense of others. A sad story beautifully told. ❤️

I grew up in Appalachia, in the Unaka ridge close to Roan Mountain. The chestnut was long gone yet there were still some logs in the forest. There was one tree that somehow survived yet was extremely stunted close to our house. The tree would grow about 10 feet and then die back and resprout from the stump. Occasionally it would bloom and produce some burrs with small nuts that were malformed. It breaks my heart to remember this small tree trying to survive.

My grandfather told this story for years and years later he still carried a shiny chestnut in his bib coveralls for good luck. Stay safe out there my friends 🙏

This is some of the finest entertainment in modern times, thanks!

Hi JD! I remember my great grandfather telling us about the chestnut trees dying. I know we used to hunt chestnuts when I was a youngster. I found a chestnut that had a pinhole in it and a little worm was in it. My great grandfather told me not to take it back home. I threw it back down on the forest floor and left it. My grandmother had a side table made from chestnut that was her great grandmother’s, I don’t know whatever happened to it. She also had a Hoosier cabinet in her kitchen. I have a picture of her sifting flour from that cabinet. History doesn’t teach about these things in schools and history has a way of repeating itself. I do believe that they are trying to propagate a bred that is resistant to this fungus. Have a blessed day!!

Makes me feel like crying...how do I remember picking them up when I was a kid 🤔 and I do remember hearing that they were all dying then... this was in the mid '60s. I won't even talk about all the things that come from China 😡 Wonderful story and lesson! Thanks JD🤗❤️

I'd never heard the details you provided here but knew quite a bit about it. Being in southern WV from a family that's been here at least 170 years of farming, hunting, and moonshining I'd heard so many stories. I'm 64 and remember a lot of these stumps and even a few deadfalls. Actually shot a squirrel off one of the deadfalls a long time ago. I pray that science one day will bring this wonderful tree back from the dead. I've heard some good things. Thanks so much.

I really love these stories of the Appalachian of Georgia hills

They aren't all dead my friend. I know where 9 huge trees are standing in Southern West Virginia. As a kid mack in the 50's we gathered for our own use. If those trees could talk now it would compare to to the Jews of WWII. When I go home in the autumn I always gather a basket full. Sometimes when I get them here to Florida they start producing those dang little white worms because the trees are never sprayed. But as a natural born Hillbilly I look at it as extra protein. It ain't never killed me yet. I wasn't able to get up there this year though. It left more for the Deer... Good Video my friend, thanks

What an incredible resource and story, yet so sad at the same time.

My Gosh, This is so sad. Thank You, though for this information. I've never heard this before.

Wow that was some history lesson, and a sad one at that.The Great American Chestnut Tree gone forever. The love of money is the root of all evil, that scripture says a lot. Thanks JD appreciate your work,Have a Good Weekend Friend 🙂.

My Papaw Babb had shared a stripped down account of this story with me when I was a youngun, but without the stats that you've provided. It's shocking just how much all of God's creatures were dependent upon its bounty, only to disappear along with those forest giants. I've also helped dismantle a few structures that were framed with the beautiful wood of the American Chestnut tree. There really ain't nothing no purtier than the wood from those majestic trees. Thanky much Mr. Phillips for another educational nugget about our tumultuous, but glorious homeland.

Gun stocks were also made from the Chestnut tree. The wood was usually removed from the Great Walking Wheels-spinning wheels. The wheel's base had already become seasoned wood, and was long enough to be made into a gun stock. New bases were then built for the wheel, for future stock replacement. (Also so the women folk could keep spinning). Also, that fencing shown, where the wood was "layered", was usually taller and was a bear detergent. When one started climbing over the railing, the uneven wood would flip the bear-breaking it's leg. I know these facts because one of my Granny's was a "Kaintuck" woman born in the 1800's. And, they eventually had to substitute other hard woods when the Chestnut trees had all died. Excellent video. Thank you for making history come alive.

Thank you for sharing. I had never heard this story. I remember chestnut trees growing up.

I read Daniel Boone books which told of the massive abundance of America. It's a huge contrast with Australia with it's mostly old sandy, rocky soils interspersed in my area with small patches of remnant soil and forest which were much sought after for orchards and small farm plots. Those Chestnut trees truly were massive, in girth really mind blowing. Thanks for making this video.

This made my Saturday morning. Great story on these trees that once shared our land. One man's greed destroyed these great trees. I did look into this and did find that the American Chestnut trees are still around, about 430 million in there native area that are only about an inch in diameter.

It's a sad day when we lost these great trees and same thing is happening to the Ash trees they will all be gone soon

Oh gosh! A good story to start my day!!

Thank you Appalachian storyteller, I learned from you today. 🙋‍♂️🐈🐈

Such a beautiful country , thankyou for this unique and beautiful clip into the past.

Very powerful video. Made me realize we are all connected to the source

Oh my gosh, are you ever bringing back memories this morning! I lived with my grandparents in southwest West Virginia until I was 13. I’m an ancestor of Devil Anse Hatfield. My grandparents owned and ran an old general store in the 1960’s. We lived right next to it. In our front yard and right next to the store was one of those trees. One thing for sure….once those started falling to the ground during certain times of the year, you did not want to walk out there barefoot as stepping on a chestnut burr was not a pleasant experience! 😂

I shared this with my science teacher for her students. She shared and i want to thank you JD.

This is so devastating I don't even have words....😥

The chestnut was considered a cradle to grave tree for the people of Appalachia. It provided food not only for the people. But the wildlife the people would hunt and their livestock (hogs). Thank you for the story of the chestnut. I usually try to watch everything that comes out about the chestnut and the ecological disaster that hurt the people of Appalachia.

Heartbreaking. What a vitally important and beautiful tree this was.

Thank you so much for the history and knowledge that you shared. Beautifully told.

Thanks again JD, for sharing the history

Tragic part of our history, well told.

" MAN WILL DESTROY HIMSELF ! " What a sad, sad story... 😞😞😞

The best Channel I have ever subscribe to ...

Wow, that was extremely interesting! Thanks for sharing that!

Wow! I never knew anything about this! Such a horrible devastating thing…..all because one man just saw dollar signs!! He ruined so much by his greed! When the “ domino affect” happens, it’s like a runaway train filled with dynamite! No stopping it once it starts and in the end….all is destroyed. Thank you so very much JD for telling us this story. So very sad. Blessings always my dear friend! ❤️✝️😪

Where I live in Virginia they're trying to make a comeback. Where they've logged 30 Acres in front of me as the growth of the old trees come back I've noticed that there are Chestnut trees growing there's probably five or six along the side of the dirt road not immediately against dirt road but 5 10 ft off the dirt road and I pick some of their seeds and their nuts and I'll try to spread them around my property to see if I can get them to grow on while I am as well.

Love your stories ❤ Thank you for sharing them .

Man and Greed can ruin just about anything.Great story.

What a story, the ripple effect on every living thing and being.

I am sad about what happened to our beautiful chestnut trees but I can say that I was hiking in the Cherokee National forest in union County GA and seen young chestnut trees and I pray that God will bring them back

You do a great job at these videos and your voice is just absolutely perfect for Appalachian stories, it really fits the subject matter.

Men can be so short sighted. The American chestnut. Such a tremendous loss. So sad.😢

Fascinating video, thank you so much!

This sad story reminds me of the elms of my hometown dying from the Dutch Elm beetle. Of course the elms were just aesthetic and a source of shade, not a source of food, fuel and medicine. Such a crying shame, though. Heartbreaking, but you do a great job here, and the other videos I've seen. A small consolation!!

It's just heartbreaking.

My Granny Hungate was born in 1909 In Patrick County Virginia (both sides of my family have been here since the 1780s). She remembered as a little girl when the chestnut trees died here in the Southern Blue Ridge of Virginia........She called it THE GREAT BLIGHT. It did forever change the Blue Ridge Mountains and all of Appalachia forever. What a shame

Thank you😊

Hey buddy.... hope you are well.... every time I hear or read About what happened to the American chestnut ...my blood Boils .... Dee 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✝️

This is the saddest thing ever, barring loss of human life. I LOVE big trees. My daddy was a logger and we used to ride around looking at trees, I remember seeing big trees just riding around country roads. I don’t see BIG trees anymore. I would have loved the huge regal chestnut, but I can’t imagine knowing them and then having to watch them die. It’s hard enough imagining what I missed. I was born in 1958, so they were all gone by then. So very sad.😢

There is still hope for the grandfather of the forest, groups like The American Chestnut Foundation and many others are working to breed in a natural resistance to the blight.

Amazing story and so sad

I live in “The Gateway to the Shenandoah”, Front Royal, Va. A friend has an American Chestnut in his yard. A little baby at 40’ +- tall and 4’ diameter.

One of the saddest tragedies I had watched this episode before when I was binging so I came back and has a little more focus. They didn't teach us about this disaster in school seems that they had all of the things that they did that were so damaging to the planet. And are still harming the planet and continuously stay and denial. Recently joined the arbor Day foundation and they'll be sending me 10 saplings of white pine three Forest the land I live that burned in 2011 near the Bastrop State Park which just devastated the area I have skeleton trees here and there in my yard brought down a giant oak which bacame frighteningly dangerous and finally got it burned last weekend after it laid there for 2 years waiting for the burn ban to be lifted. Thank you for the lesson always enjoy your videos.

Heartbreaking. I love nature and animals so very much, and it hurts to have lost so many.

This is so tragic. I grew up on Chestnut Road in South Charleston, West Virginia, where my parents still live, but I have never seen a Chestnut tree with my own eyes.

Thanks!

So much evil, though unintentional, has been done in the name of progress. For my wife's ancestors it was the loss of the buffalo. Thank you for the education.

Great story thanks for sharing it with us GOD BLESS

There is are interesting study results just published in the journal "Nature", about how the Depression affected epigenetics in people born at that time. Some conclusions are that poverty, stress, poor diet at that time has led to a generation with poorer health, which ages faster. I would think the loss of the chestnuts as part of the Appalachian diet would have had similar consequences. Please forgive me for a lack of knowledge of the region, but we have heard for decades about poverty and hunger in that area. The chestnuts, while they thrived, would have been a tremendous source of extremely healthy nutrients. My point is, the ecological disaster likely had severe, long lasting effects on the genetics of the people. Thank you for this excellent video!

Greed of one man started the fall of. Appalachian life and history long proud.

What a sad yet interesting story🧐🥰😟 Great channel, subscribe and share.

Thank you good sir you remind me of my childhood and listening to the stories of the old timers Saturday evenings at the country store I walked down after my chores to get a sodie pop and a brine pickle Listening to your stories I'm that child with wonder again

Nov 24, 2022: FATHER, I send the miraculous into this region of the country. Forgive their failures and shower your mercy across the land. Amen

I remember as a kid hunting on a family farm in Grayson Co. VA, I ran across a tree where all that was left was bark that would have made a tree that was at least 4' in diameter. I asked my dad what it would have been and he told me it was an American Chestnut. Come to find out the old farm had quite a few American chestnuts on it. I'd absolutely love to know if some scientists or whatnot have recreated them, because I'd love to plant a few dozen.

This is the finest in eloquent storytelling and as good, if not better, than some clinical documentary - though informative - lacking heart with a warm pulse. Exceptionally well done!

Those Chestnut trees were here in the highland rim of middle TN, too. These chestnut trees suffered the same fate. My parents generation has talked about it many times.

By time I was born in 1962 and by time I was born the mighty tree had been wiped out for 12 years! How sad!!

Interesting. Same here in the UK. Back in the 1300's UK had 99% forest. Now it's about 10

I’ve been binge “listening” to your wonderful stories. Wow you have some good ones! I live in Iowa and we are experiencing the devastation of the emerald ash bore in our ash trees. We had no idea such a creature existed. Every single ash tree on our small homestead is dead. That amounts to 8 ash trees. Now we need to cut each one down as they are dangerous during storms. Quite an expense for us. One thing I noticed with these resilient trees, they keep trying to sprout new life at the trunk. Amazing! I hope the American chestnut can somehow make a come back. Such a tragedy. Mary

Wonderful presentation. The awe of foolish greed. Otherwise unconquerable ppl. Even looks like a false flag attack

I remember my daddy telling me about a blight that came through and wiped out the chestnut trees. So sad

Indeed, such a terrible tragedy... 😥

The progress of man has left many casualties in its path forward. The will of God pushed aside in their hearts and minds for a world full of rust,dust and decay.

One of the saddest nature stories I have ever heard. Makes the heart ache.

I always wondered what happened to the American chestnuts. Thank you for telling this story.

Once again in the history of mankind, greed changed our world for the worse. Thanks for A sad story well told. I learned something today. Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving.

The American Chestnut tree is not completely gone. There is a sizable grove of them that can be found at an undisclosed location along The Appalachian Trail in GSMNP.

They have developed hybrid s good foresters would re plant these every where. ❤

When I was young, we moved from a close suburb to a small, turn of the last century, town outside Washington DC. I remember being impressed with lots of trees not just in yards, but along sidewalks. There were several small parks and trails thru groves of mix trees. Some as tall as 50-60 feet. Elm, Oak, Maple and Chestnut. In the summer different trees with winged seeds would give us helicopter fun times and in the fall we'd play with the chestnuts spiky coverings that hadn't opened yet. Thanks for your story, I didn't know all that.

What a story, so nice to learn all this!

So sad that a man's greed was the reason we all lost this Giant tree's

Thanks buddy

It's astonishing that they took all those giant trees down without chainsaws or modern machinery. Same thing happened in Australia, where they may have chopped down the world's biggest tree: a mountain ash. These people, both in America and Australia, had no brains at all, but God they were strong.

As a child my siblings and I would get a new pair of shoes in the spring and a new pair for winter. I can remember running and playing in the woods and coming up on chestnuts laying on the ground. I hated them. But I remember having to pick em up , my parents would roast and salt them. Never liked their flavor.

Another amazing yet very tragic story JD. Your composition was a perfect blend of beauty, melancholy and reverence. You are truly gifted my friend. But words can not even begin to express the sadness and heaviness my heart feels learning about this. Keep up the great work you do. Thank You. jj

Yeah, ANOTHER great gift from China!

I love your voice ❤

Devastating & heartbreaking

Is there any effort to regrow the mighty chestnut tree? Wonderful, heartbreaking, storytelling.

That is so horribly sad. Wow.

Years ago I bought a book case and two benches that had been made using left over chestnut wood from an 1840's barn that had been dismantled and relocated.

Sadly the forest of appalachia are now dominated by oak and poplar but ever so luckily a few resistant trees survived and with some more luck we can get them back for our grandchildren and their children

I feel so sad that we lost the mighty Chestnut Trees!

Terrible tragedy, but thanks for a most excellent report. Do we still have American Chestnut trees anywhere in the country? Did the Chinese variety thrive? Is there any chance of CRISPR renewing the American variety?

This story is so sad that I can't bear to hear it