__________________________Family Feud __________________________

Ladd's Cove is at the northern end of Battle Creek in the northwest corner of Marion County, Tennessee. It's a cove nestled into Monteagle mountian.

This story was told as an actual event. I have no reason to doubt it.

There were two brothers who lived there and their little shanties were within eyesight of each other. One had a pretty wife and the other's was rather plain. But things in life average out and the brother with the less attractive wife had a very nice milk cow.

But he just couldn't get his brother's pretty wife out of his mind. So he offered a trade. For the pretty wife he offered his wife and the milk cow to even out the deal. The trade was actually made. Some time later, this guy really begin to miss his milk cow and wanted his brother to trade back but he would not do so. This started a full scale family feud. The brothers would fire their rifles at each other from their shanty windows. Fortunately, neither was a good shot.

I never did learn how this all came out but I have always imagined that the feud stopped the day the milk cow died.

______________________Hunter Gatherers_________________________

Trucks were always losing their brakes while coming down Monteagle mountain and wrecking. It is said that some people of Ladds cove made a living off of truck wrecks. When a truck would wreck it would generally go over the side into Ladds cove and burst apart spilling it's load all over the countryside. There were well worn paths to the most likely wreck areas where the goods were "gathered".

I have witnessed the aftermath of many a disasterious truck wreck on that mountain. One truck hit the side of the "Big Cut" at an estimated 130 mph. The only recognizable part of the truck that was left was the mangled engine block.

I also saw a tanker truck wreck which was caring molasses. The driver was thrown from the truck into the road and was knocked unconscious facedown in his load of molasses. He drowned in the molasses before anybody happened on the scene to rescue him.

I'm afraid most of my mountain/truck memories are not good ones. The only wreck I ever had was coming down Monteagle mountian in the ice and snow. The grace of God allowed me to hit the inside part of the mountian rather than soaring off into Ladds cove. I'm afraid I would have been slim pickins for the hunter gatherers down there.