"
The nations of Europe for whom he fought had not forgotten nor had they
ceased to honor him. After he had returned to the mountains of
Tennessee, another citation came from the French Government for a
military award that had been made him, and in a ceremony at the capital
of Tennessee the Italian Government conferred upon him the Italian Cross
of War.
The "Valley of the Three Forks o' the Wolf," where Alvin York was born
and lives, which has been the home of his ancestors for more than a
hundred years, is a level fertile valley that is almost a rectangle in
form. Three mountains rising on the north and south and west enclose it,
while to the east four mountains jumble together, forming the fourth
side. It seems that each of these is striving for a place by the valley.
It is down the passes of these mountains on the east that the three
branches of the Wolf River run, and it is their meeting and commingling
that gave the quaint name to the valley.
The forks of the Wolf rush down the passes, but the river runs lazily
through the valley. It flows beside a cornfield, then wanders over to a
meadow of clover or into a patch of sugar-cane, turning the while from
side to side as the varying mountain vistas come into view. At the far
end where it is pushed over the mill dam and out of the valley, the Wolf
roars protestingly; then rushes on to the Cumberland River a silver line
between the mountains.
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