I was born in the early 1930's,into a family of illegal moonshiners, drunks and all around good christians.
I had 16 brothers and 5 sisters, my mother had nearly killed herself spitting out all us young'ns. My pa, well he was a good man, made most of his money running moonshine. He supplied half of eastern Kentucky, with some of the finest shine known to man. They used to call him, "White Lightning", their wasn't a government man around, that could catch my father coming off that mountain with a load of shine. A few of them Feds', almost caught up to him, but they never lived long enough to tell anyone. I would say that there is more than just a couple of unmarked graves up in them hills.
My brothers and I, used to help Pa', we would pack mules, and set the still up on a diferent side of the mountain, just about every batch we cooked up, came from a different still. We had a few stills, that was just to let them Feds have something to find. They eventually learned to not be so bothersome out in our neck of the woods. My pa, of course, would take care of the right ones, he would fixem up with a nice batch of shine, every now and then. Most of our troubles came from the Bartley clan, one ridge over. They made shine, but they just couldn't match the quality that Pa had with his whiskey. You have probably heard of the "Hatfields and McCoys", but noone hardly ever spoke of the "Miller's and Bartley's", but if you lived up near our dark, backwoods region, you were all to familiar with us.
Me being the oldest of us boys, I had always been right in the middle of the shooting. I hadn't much interest in that kind of stuff, I was old enough to take a likin' to the ladies, and the prettiest one of them all, were that young Bartley daughter. Me and her would sneak off, and be together, and we were both wanting to get hitched. But, we knew what would happen, if'n we did such a thing. Out in public, specially at church, we would always travel with the whole clan, Ma, Pa and all of us young'ns, wed' hitch up the horses, put on our Sunday best, load up cases of pa's shine and ride on down to town.
The roads, if you could call them roads, made for slow travelin'. They were all rutted out, the rain, would wash out most of the bridges several times a year, so we would have to make a day of travelin' into town. Sometimes, it might take us several days, pendin' on how many trees were blocking them hollar roads. The wind, in the spring time, would blow something fierce, knocking down trees, from Miller hollar, all the way down to almost Coyote flats. And, if'n you aint familiar with that area, it was a mighty long way.
Back in them mountains, our days were much shorter than most everywhere else, the sun was blocked out by the hillsides most of the day. If'n the sun peaked up over the ridge at about 6 am everywhere else, than we could spect to see it round 11, back in that dark, hollar of ours.
We had us a little 4 room cabin, sitchiated on the little, grassy flat, at the bottom of the two big tree covered mountains on ither side of our field there. We hadn' much room fer planting, I'd say we probably had us about a quarter acre between them two big mountains, and then it just went straight up in the air, far as you'ns could see, blocking out the daylight, leaving us sitting in the dark, more that we cared too.
Me and Eliza, Bartley's daughter, we liked it staying dark, aint nobody could see us running off together, when it'd be pitch dark outside. We had us a spot up on Rattlesnake ridge, halfway between her place and mine. We called this place no man's land, cause aint none of us ever caught dead that close to the other clans homestead. Our land was bout 4 mile part, and if you asked my Pa, he'd say, that be close enough for his likn'. Eliza and me, we were in love, we got a little carried away, and we got little careless bout meeting up. We were so in love, that we just plain forgot, that we was sposed to be fuedin'.
Eliza, or Liza, as I called her, started a swelling up, she had a little one on the way. She tried her best, cover up that big belly of hers, whatn' much she could do. Since, we was so poor, all of us had to sleep in the same room, same went for all families out where we come from, just the way it was. So, you probaly guess, didn't take long fer her Pa' to figure out she was with child. He just couldn't figure out, how she got that way. Her ma', she knew, aint nobody had tell her ither, she just knew.
All the women within three counties had a liking for me. Makes me blush, but I was just born a ladies man, everybody knew it. Her Pa', he didn't know it, he ner even come to town, specially not to churh. He ner saw the way them women looked at me. And, fer me, that was just fine, long as he didn't know, then he hadn't no reason to come looking fer me, thinking I fathered that child of Eliza's.
We knew what we had to do, we had to run off and get ourselves hitched. But, easier said then done, weren't too many places to go. My Pa' sold everybody their whiskey, they knew us, might not have known what we all look like, but one mention of our name, and erbody knew.
We reckoned we' ed head out west, California, ain't no more gold out in them California hills no more, but we was a going anyway.
Unlike my brothers, I saved my money that I got from running shine, my brothers, they lost most their money in the cards. Old man Tackett, lived outside of town there, he ran a card game twice a week, and always tempted my brothers to come on down and win their money back. And, they might have done that, had they not took after Pa', and had such a hankering for the whiskey.
My youngist brother, Zacharia, he'd drink up more shine, than half the people in Carter County. He was a dangerous man, on that whiskey, everybody was, if you ask me.
I had saved up money, ever since I met that Liza, I always knew, that she was my girl. She had the purttiest auburn hair, and the greenest eyes. Her eyes were as green as fresh Spring grass, shining in the morning dew, and as sparkly too. I took one look, and falled head over hills, and she didn't say nutin bout it, but I knew she did the same for me, cause I seen her run right into a pole, smiling at me, walking down the main street in town.
That was the first time we ever laid eyes on each other. I remember my Pa saying, "You better not lay eyes on that one there, she aint no woman, she's just one of them damn Bartley's", as he hit me up side of the head with his fist, then he took another swig of shine. I don't think he ever had a sober day, and neither did none of them brothers of mine. And, my pa said, ifn' one them Bartley's ever laid eyes on my sisters like that, he shootem' dead, right there and then. I had the sneaking suspicion, that old man Bartley would do the same to me.
It was Early summer, the shinnin' was going at full steam, was making trips twice a week down to town, to pick up more sour mash for the still. I'd always get less than I needed, just to give me a reason for going out. Me and Liza, we'd always go to town at the same time, most town folk, kept busy all day, hadn't much time to pay any mind to Liza and me, so this gave us a chance to be together. And, we took all the chances we could get, to be together. We talked about our moving, knew we had to go soon, her belly was a getting bigger everyday, and pretty soon, she'd be too far along, to make the trip.
We cided on leaving that next Saturday, during the big barn dance, that we had every year, down at Litleton's square, in the middle of town. There was square dancing, and eating, and fiddling and that was the one day out of the year, that we called a truse with them Bartleys, Both our Pa's, wanted us boys finding good women, they both wanted the family name to live on, and they wanted the fueding to live on too, cause as long as we were fueding, and we keep having little Miller's spit out into the world, then we would never have to say, we lost that fued.
We had made all the plans, and, i had went up on the mountain, and dug up all my shine money, I'd been saving. Liza, went home, packed up her things, specially that purty dress she ordered, she had paid 15 dollars fer that dress, came all the way from England, Betsy, down at Waltons store, had ordered it fer Liza, I gave liza the money. She always wanted a big fancy wedding dress, so I made sure she got just what she wanted. She hid that dress nearly 2 years, she couldn't let her Pa' or any of her brothers know bout that dress, cause then theyd' want to know everything.
She hadn't planned on being with child, "so now I guess your gonna have to do some sewing, let that dress out a mite", I said. She slapped me across the face, she took it as me calling her fat. I would never called my Liza fat, she could swelled up like some big ole hog, and I'd a still thought she was the purtiest thing ever.
We was to meet up at our spot, just after er'body was off to the dance. We had made up scuses fer not going, Pa' said, " You aint never gonna findya a woman sittin' round on yer ass, aint right, don't care how sick you feel, ain't right fer no grown boy, not wanting to meet him some young girl, to sew his oats, aint right", then he hopped up on the wagon, and with a snap of the reins, they were off, and I was off too, off to meet up with Liza, and run away together.
Liza, had told her Pa' the same story, and he gave her the same speech too, besides wanting his sons to get hitched, he wanted his only daughter to get hitched too, he wanted her to be someone elses problem. Cause, back then, having a daughter weren't much good, she would help Ma' do the cooking, but when it came to making the shine, women just had no place.
I got up on my horse, rode off towards the spot, thinking that I was all by myself. Little did I know, that my brother, Jedadiah, had sneaking suspicions, he had stayed home too, and followed me up the hill. I think he thought I had my own still, and was fixing to steal some of Pa's business, so he followed me. I made it to the spot, and I knew that Liza didn't like riding much after dark, so it'd be a little longer fer her to make it all the way up there.
Finally, after about an hour, I heard a horse galloping up the hillside, gravel and rocks scattering as the hoofs hit the earth, I had thought, she must be filling frisky, cause my Liza don't usually ride that fast, she was a gentle person, and took things purty easy.
I was right, weren't Liza, it was Jedadiah, and he was 3 sheets to the wind, I could smell the whiskey on his breathe from a mile away. "Just what in God's name is you doing up here?", he slurred as he dismounted the horse, knocking his rifle to the ground.
I told him, that I was a coon hunting, but he knew better than that, I didn't even bring my rifle up here with me, it was still hanging on the wall, next to where he had fetched his. So, I just told him, to mind his own business, and that got him all riled up. He started yelling and cussing, and at about that time, Liza just popped up round the corner, I guess she couldn't hear all that yelling, over the sound of her horses tromping through the brush, plus the wind was blowing mighty hard that night, ruffling up the leaves.
You could hardly hear yourself think sometimes, cause of that damn wind, at least in the hills anyways. Jedadiah, he saw her too, and it don't matter, girl or boy, he hated every one of them Bartley's, and when he saw Liza, his eyes got as big as two saucers. I didn't have my gun, and Liza, was bout 20 yards from me, when Jedadiah raised up his rifle.
"NOOOOOO, I love her!", I shouted.
"I'm doing everyone a favor!", he shouted and then gave a little laugh, a laugh that could have put chills down a dead mans neck, and then he pulled the trigger.
With one shot, and over nuttin' more that a few dollars worth of whiskey, Jedadiah killed my woman and my unborn child, and with them, my heart and soul.
For me, nothing in the world could have been worse, I ran to her side, kneeled down, and with her last dying breath, I heard her say, "I love you, Michael", then she fell over dead. And, there laid a fallen angel, there laid my one true love, there laid my whole life, in the now blood splattered wedding dress, that she had loved so much.
I never forgave my brother, or my Pa', for starting that damn fued. And, after the death of his only daughter, old man Bartley, declared all out war. I just kept on riding, I made it out to California anyways. I know my Liza, she would have wanted me to go.
I didn't have any more love for my family, so I just went. I aint never been back, but I heard that bout all of both our families, Liza's and mine, bout killed each other off, and that didn't bother me much.
I built that mountain home Liza wanted, right here in California, just like Liza and me had talked about, all those many nights laying out under the stars, being in love amongst all the hate. And, most nights, when I am up their on that mountain, I can hear Liza calling out for me..................... her voice is carried in the wind.

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