This spring while reading an issue of “The Mountaineer” in Big Sandy I came upon the mention of a young girl in the elementary school that during an open house had dressed up like Tavie Kipp. That rang several bells so I called the girl’s mother, Amy Wortman who farms down by the mighty Missouri and asked how they knew the name. Amy told me they had read of Tavie Kipp’s adventures in a book called “Retracing Kipp Trails” by Jim Arthur. Matter of fact Tavie Kipp’s stories in the book made such an impression on the parents that they named their daughter Tavie.
I borrowed the book and a flood of...