Understanding Apples

This book is a collection of stories mainly about an area in the city of Kingsport, TN called Long Island, a rough and tumble area after Prohibition known for violence and bootlegging. There are stories about the Cleek Brothers (Hack, Buck, Zeke, Boot, and Bill), Ransom Bishop, Judd Moore, Snapper Jobe, Barney McNew, Clay Rodefer, Buzz McClain and even a tale about the origins of Long Island Iced Tea. Look for cameo appearances from Kingsport barbers Ken and Claude "Mouth of the South" Russell as well. Anyone that knows the city of Kingsport in Tennessee, the Model City, our "Little Apple", knows about Church Circle and the area adjacent to it: Five Points, quite a seedy area to this very day. For a moment let's examine this fine town - the way it is now and the way it used to be. It used to be that Kingsport, Tennessee wasn't King's Port at all. It was Christianville prior to King's Port, but well before that the area was part of a Cherokee nation - so vast - and so rich in agriculture and history, oral history, the area was actually a sacred ground to the Native Americans. What is called Long Island here in Kingsport, Tennessee was once a hallowed stretch - a four and a half mile island that was nestled between the Holston River and the Sluice, revered by the tribesman for its energy and spiritual presence. Before 1776 and the Battle of Long Island Flats it was said that no man could be killed on Long Island. But in 1777 the chiefs of all seven clans gathered and signed a treaty with the white man, giving up not only hundreds of thousands of their acreage, but millions - including the sacred ground known as Long Island. Because the chieftains' decision was not unanimous among the elders or their sons - a powerful curse was placed upon the hallowed ground: No man would ever find peace there. A mere window of events is shared within the pages of this book that offer only a glimpse of what life was like thereafter.