There was a time in West Virginia when some folks lived on what was known as dirt roads. These roads were not called secondary roads or off roads. They were dirt roads. The roads where more civilized folks lived were called hard roads. The hard roads were not blacktop, they were concrete. Once you left the concrete you were pretty much on a dirt road. Those dirt roads during the winter and early spring were probably better described as quagmires.

If you were negotiating a dirt road and saw water up ahead, you probably were not approaching a puddle. More often than not you were about to enter a long, nearly bottomless mud hole. Even during the summer months, some of those mud holes did not go away. You entered them at your peril. You might get through and you might not.

During those days four wheel drives were limited to Jeeps and Dodge Power Wagons. Common folks just did not own such vehicles. Front wheel drives had not yet been invented. So those who lived on those roads traversed them in rear wheel drive cars and two wheel drive pickups. Getting "hung up" in a mud hole was very common.

Some of the old pickups had a special very low gear which was called "bulldog gear." It would move your truck along at a crawl without killing the engine. Most of the time that gear would help you slog successfully through the long mud holes. But not always.

Many of the wise old West Virginians would carry a come-a-long, or what my dad called a coffin horse, in their truck. If they got stuck, they would hook one end of the device to the truck, wrap the chain on the other end around a handy tree, and "snake her out" of the mud hole. My grandfather, who lived on a dirt road, was often called upon to bring his team of horses to the scene of a stranded motorist. He was always delighted to demonstrate the superiority of four-legged horse power.

Most folks who lived on dirt roads were there because many of the old home places were established before there were many cars around. It did not matter what kind of road you lived on. But once cars became commonplace, more and more people gave up on the dirt roads and moved to the hard road areas.

During the 1960's and 70's, many of the hippies who migrated to West Virginia and moved out on the dirt roads discovered why most West Virginians gave up on them. Those Volkswagon busses with flowers and peace symbols painted on the sides had a tough time on those one lane "dirt roads." Most concluded that two lane livin' was the way to go.