By Pierre Souillard

But yes, you do not dream, a homonymous city of the headland Place Audois, down there, in the depths of the United States. Carcassonne, it is a head of pin lost in the ocean of greenery of the forest of the Appalachian Mountains. This tiny village is populated by 75 inhabitants, irreducible like Asterix of Gaul. This name, of Carcassonne, necessarily atypical, they want to keep it. Despite the closing of the post office, and the school, these Carcassonnais (Carcassonnians) from beyond the Atlantic know their history, necessarily shorter than ours, but not unrelated.

Direction Carcassonne, 800 km west of Washington, DC. And if there are many airlines in our American cousins, to go to our village, we will have to land in Cincinnati in Ohio. But we still have a lot of road to do by car, and believe me, the road is not straight! We take this opportunity to review a bit of history before meeting our host, Michael Caudill.

HD Caudill, Kentucky’s Travencal (French founder of modern Carcassonne)

Like Sire Roger Trencavel, who was and still is the prominent figure of the Carcassonne identity, HD Caudill, Sr. played in his time a founding role of the American Carcassonne. His time was the beginning of the twentieth century. Established in the county of Letcher, Kentucky, this minister, teacher, and carpenter had set up his sawmill not far from the community of Gander. He and other community members built the school there in 1923. This building is still used. Being educated, HD Caudill, compared Gander’s illustration from a poem he read to his younger son, Clifton Caudill, who will later report it in a book devoted to local stories. [He heard about a “city of the cliffs,” with a strong-willed people and a deep religious faith. This reminded him of his own community.] Clifton relates that this mental image showed the City [of Carcassonne, France] at the very top of its hill. This landscape was very similar to the surrounding mountains of Gander. He decided to rename this place “as a tribute to the intelligence and determination of Carcassonne, France during the Albigensian Crusade” as related by Michael Caudill, the grandson of the founder. The post office officially took the name Carcassonne in 1937, later assigned the postal code: 41806.

From Carcassonne to Carcassonne

Michael is a retired teacher, as is his wife, Marcia, who was the last teacher at Carcassonne [during her first year of teaching] in 1973-74. The eldest [surviving] son of HD Caudill, Jr., Michael is now a volunteer host on a local radio station: WMMT 88.7. Like other retired educators, Michael is a supporter of school. He, his uncle and father, have always had the intention of coming to our Carcassonne. The latter came to France during the second World War. Gravely wounded in Alsace, he carried out his convalescence near Carcassonne. But he could never see the towers of the city. Now deceased, HD Caudill, Jr. had shortly before his death written a book on his Carcassonne, [and his WWII experiences]; this work is now in the process of being published.

Life in Letcher County

The American rurality is both very different and very similar to ours. Very different by culture especially. In Carcassonne, Kentucky, we listen to the Bluegrass country. Every month, in the old school, dance is performed in the “square dance”. The dancers’ couples face each other and perform movements dictated by the verses of a caller to the sound of the violin [and banjo or guitar]. The ladies often meet in this same place to sew, or to make eiderdowns [quilts]. Economically, the County of Letcher did not depend only on Carcassonne, but had its hour of glory in the exploitation of coal and fossil fuels. Today these mines still function, but what were once prosperous cities like Blackey, Whitesburg, or Hazard are now merely big villages. The Appalachian Mountains are still home to many open-pit mines, but this method of operation, in addition to its harmful ecological impact, employs far fewer workers than underground mining. It is also this social aspect that has recently prompted a group of Carcassonnians to want to oppose one of these mines, located a few steps from the house of Michael.

The Carcassonne countryside

During the War of Secession, a garrison crossed Carcassonne as a shortcut from the Battle of Leatherwood to another battle in Virginia. This path still exists, it is the Civil War Gap, in memory of this moment of history. The soldiers had to take a narrow passage through the mountains, just above the village. The Appalachians are an endless succession of valleys and hills crisscrossed by rivers and roads in laces as in a huge dizzy puzzle. This deep America is also due to the density of its landscape. “Tina” lives in Carcassonne, Kentucky; for her, Carcassonne is the forest – “trees everywhere.” This greenery hides many streams, lakes, and ponds, where fishing is practiced as a sport. Sport fishermen release their catch, a practice which Michael rejects – “I find it is a waste of time to spend hours waiting to bring nothing back, and my wife does not like fish …”

One name: Carcassonne

Little by little, isolated from a world that is accelerating, making profitable, restructuring, Carcassonne resists. New Postal Code? Some citizens of the Carcassonne of Kentucky keep the name of their city for themselves! More about the school? The building is a social [community] center. At least two books exist on this Carcassonne, and more are being published.

Carcassonne, Kentucky, a beautiful story that begins with a poem, an image and a city on the other side of the world. This story must not end in the basket of an administration, the pioneers of the Appalachians had a tenacious will and they kept it! And for Michael the last word:

“As far as I know, there are only two Carcassonnes in the world. However, those of us who still live here cling to the name as the original residents of Carcassonne, France clung to their freedom.”

Photo captions:

P 26, #1: A road of the Appalachians

#2 Map of the United States

#3 The School at Carcassonne

P. 27 #1 Whitesburg, one of the most important cities near Carcassonne

#2 [Part of] The Caudill family in 1943 from left to right: Hendricks D Caudill, Jr. and his fiancee Edna Whitaker; Anna Dixon Caudill and Hendricks D Caudill, Sr., the founders of Carcassonne [Community School], KY.

#3 Michael and his father, HD Caudill, Jr.

Additional notes at bottom of page 27:

Left: And there are also:

Aragon in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, United States, Philippines, and Spain

Bram in Algeria, Albania, Ghana, and Guinea Biseo

Caunes in Estonia

Durban in Guyana, Iran, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Lavalette in Belgium, United States, Malta

Laure in Honduras and Peru

Montreal in the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa

Pezens in the Netherlands

Pomas in Mexico

Quillan in Ecuador

Talairan in the Philippines

Trebes in Czechoslovakia, in Croatia

Right: Thank you Michael Caudill, Brian Caudill, Tina, Bob Kimberley, Charles Peifer and the WMMT team. In homage to HD Caudill, Jr., who died the 7th of September, r of Jr., who diedrian Caudill, Tina, Bob Kimberley, Charles Peiferll, Sr., the till live here 2007 during the writing of this article.