Mountains, Moonshine and Mutiny: WW1 Desertion in North Carolina

In 1918, the mountains of North Carolina erupted in quiet rebellion. Dozens of young men dodged the World War I draft, hiding in the backcountry with help from friends and family. When a deadly shootout left two men dead on a remote mountain road, Governor Thomas Bickett launched an unprecedented campaign to bring the deserters in, using not just raids and arrests, but public persuasion designed to get these men to turn themselves in, no questions asked.

And it worked.

It’s another one of the Stories of Appalachia.

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