{"id":51935,"date":"2026-08-15T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=51935"},"modified":"2026-08-10T15:31:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T19:31:01","slug":"life-after-the-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/life-after-the-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Life After The War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mountain woman. The Civil War. No sooner had Bertha buried her son and her husband, when she discovered that she was pregnant. Now she would have two children to support. She somehow acquired a cow and kept it hidden up in the mountains. She kept a bag of potatoes hidden under the floorboards. Raiders came through constantly taking her chickens and everything she had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for thou art with me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bertha was able to sustain life by hunting and fishing. That fall she had a baby girl and two children now to support. In the spring of ’65 the war ended, and she found herself with a broken down farm and two children to raise. Most people thought she would find a new husband but not Bertha. It almost seemed like destiny had prepared her entire life, just for this moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bertha stayed busy doing anything she could. She sold honey from her beehives, served as a midwife birthing scores of babies. Made medicines of herbs gathered from the forest. She cured colds using Pennyroyal tea. She raised her two daughters to adulthood. The community depended upon her for all types of tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When someone would die she would prepare the body for burial, and often she would preach the funeral. She knew the Bible from cover to cover. She became one of the most legendary women of American history. No one had any money so they paid her with apples and food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She tanned leather and made her children’s shoes. There was no end to the things that she did but she became known as an expert basket weaver. She sold her baskets at the local store. She took orders for men’s suits for which she had grown the wool and made her own fabric. Her coats sold for 50\u00a2 and her shirts for 25\u00a2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1900 she was 60 years old and going strong. She received an $8 a month pension from the federal government. With this she bought coffee and salt. But soon the town of Gatlinburg began to grow. Hotels, visitors from all over breathing the mountain air. Civilization began pressing closer and closer. She remained in her cabin never seeing a doctor her entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bertha had memorized most of the Bible. She began lobbying for a school in Gatlinburg. ln 1912 she saw the fruit of her labor. She taught basket weaving in the school the remainder of her life. Today her baskets can be seen in museums all across the Appalachians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bertha passed away at age 86 in the same cabin she had been her entire life. Many people made the pilgrimage to visit her and buy her baskets. If you ever get to Gatlinburg, take Ski Mountain road past Wolf Creek and you will see the spot where Bertha’s cabin stood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years on my way to Newnan Georgia on interstate 24 from Nashville to Chattanooga, I had wanted to drive up into the mountains. But just today I realize I have been in the mountains. On l-24 there is a sign calling for a mile grade and then for a long time you’re going back down. I have visited Pigeon Forge, where  I saw the funniest program I have ever seen in the Comedy Barn. Taking a ski lift across the interstate, across the river, and straight up to the top of the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the top you visit a souvenir shop and back down. Taking a 2 hour trip through the Black Hills, were all you see is trees and you go 10 miles an hour the entire time, in a procession of cars. seriously I would like to meet the mountain people if any are still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014James Neuhouser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountain woman. The Civil War. No sooner had Bertha buried her son and her husband, when she discovered that she<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25],"tags":[29800,17044,29798,29709,29799],"class_list":["post-51935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","tag-bertha","tag-james-neuhouser","tag-life-after-war","tag-mountain-woman","tag-the-civil-war"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t