Land must have been very cheap

Walton's Mountain was a distance from the prime agricultural soil which existed in large tracts in the valleys of Virginia. Other than a few select acres most of the soil was on steep terrain and very shallow in depth. A major reason the land was left to woodlands and Grandpa got defensive over hydraulic mining. Even John Boy's Meadow from appearances fit that description. Maybe a tillable acre out of ten and the rest good for grazing or hay. If the land was really any good the Walton's would have made a go of commercial farming versus being subsistence with a garden and a little bit of hay to feed the mule, horse, and cow. Also, land was at a low point in terms of value during the Depression in some cases losing more than 75 percent of its pre-crash value. During the roaring 20's that land was probably worth the better part of 50 dollars per acre if they wanted to sell. We also have to realize that the Walton's got their land by simply putting 4 surveyor's stakes in the ground when the area first opened to settlement during the 1760's. They never had to make payments so they could make it as subsistence farmers. Trade some lumber and other commodities for other goods such as ammunition to hunt and coffee plus sugar. Sold a little lumber to pay taxes. Too bad Americans can't live so simply today.