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Virginia  Symbols, State Outdoor Drama

"The Trail of the Lonesome Pine"

Adapted for stage by Clara Lou Kelly
Performed in Big Stone Gap, Virginia

Adopted in 1994
 

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, the longest continually running outdoor drama in the Commonwealth of Virginia, has been designated the Official Outdoor Drama of Virginia.

Wise County is also home of the community that was the inspiration of Adriana Trigiani's trilogy of novels, including the best-seller Big Stone Gap; and the novel, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, written by John Fox, Jr.
 

The Novel

Fox, John, Jr. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine. KY: Kentucky UP, 1984.
First published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908

“John Fox, Jr. published this great romantic novel of the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky and Virginia in 1908, and the book quickly became one of America's favorites. It has all the elements of good romance—a superior but natural heroine, a hero who is an agent of progress and enlightenment, a mass of supposedly benighted mountaineers to be drawn from their rough habits of feuding into the flow of mainstream American culture, a generous dose of social and class struggle, and a setting among the misty coves and cliffs of the blue Cumberlands” (Back Cover).

“. . . [Fox's] dialogue is often stilted and stiff in the eyes of today's reader, and many of his characters seem almost caricatures. His hero Jack Hale, the bluegrass engineer who comes to the mountains to make his fortune in coal but remains to fall in love with the region and with a simple mountain girl, is impossibly brave and pure. June Tolliver, the beautiful mountain waif, is only slightly more believable. But when Fox turns from romance and deals with the hard, narrow, and sometimes brutal and confused mountain dwellers who are struggling to cope with progress that was brushing aside them and their ways, then his characters take on flesh and blood” (Foreword viii).

 

Jack Hale's Transformation
in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
By Whitney La Ruffa


John Fox brings to life many colorful characters who lived in the Appalachian region in his novel The Trail of the Lonesome Pine . The book, which was written in 1908, tells of the mountain folk of Appalachia whose lives were shaped by turn of the century industrialization. The character Jack Hale is a "furriner" from the north who moves to the mountains seeking fortune from the coal below the ground. Jack is a very three dimensional character who changes dramatically throughout the book.

In the beginning of the story Jack Hale is a neatly dressed, clean shaven, educated Yankee. His perfect pronunciation and articulation are accentuated by the surrounding native accent and dialect of the south. Jack's words and mannerisms depict him as a man interested in such topical matters as money and appearances--yet there is more to him than that.

Jack falls in love with the young June Tolliver, a simple mountain girl. His love for June is shown to us when he financially backs her education outside the mountains. Their relationship demonstrates Jack's nurturing side. Jack is always willing to put June before himself in any situation. His love for this girl is an expression of his humanity and, like all individuals, there is a side of him that will always care for someone more than himself.

Jack's role as a volunteer policeman represents all that is just in the world. He is one individual who could make the distinction between the law and personal feelings. We see this distinction when he gets involved with Bad Rufe Tolliver. He lets the law resolve the situation rather than his own anger. This discrimination is also proved when he saved young Dave Tolliver from the Faulkners.

Jack starts the novel as a greedy furriner who represents the industrial, capitalist evil which had come to the mountains. He then moves on to be one of the most respected people in the gap. Jack is proud of his new role as a law man, an educator, and a provider. The reader feels as if Jack achieves what he had set out to do. We do not, however, see the great changes that have taken forth in Jack until June comes back from New York.

Upon June's return Jack appears to us in a very different light. He has discarded the clean look and is now scruffy and haggard. There is mud on his clothes and dirt stains ground into his hands. June even has to correct his speech. This change in Jack has come not only from his pressing financial situation, but also from his love of the land which grows by his living in the mountains. Jack no longer finds himself as an outsider looking at the land for his financial gain, but as an insider who has learned to respect the land and appreciate nature.

By the end of the book Jack has learned that life is more then just money. His love for June and nature help him become a better person. Fox shows us a dynamic character who is full of knowledge, love and respect for all aspects of life.

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