"The New River Valley has long been fertile ground for oral history, folklore and just plain foolishness," said Jimmie Price, a historian and minister who lives at Prices Fork, near Blacksburg.

His stories appear among the works of a team of 18 writers who have produced a monumental account of the 233 years of Montgomery County. They wrote in great detail, recording what has happened in that big county since frontier times.

Their huge book, weighing more than 5 pounds, is almost an encyclopedia of people and events. The 18 chapters tell all that anyone would want to know about Montgomery's mountains, valleys and rivers, American Indians, exploration, settlers, frontier life, formation of towns and counties, transportation, agriculture, industry, springs resorts, the Civil War, literature, education, religion and legends from oral history interviews.

Legends are explored at length. Stories about the association of Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett and George Washington with Montgomery County have been told for years, but little evidence has been found. Records do show that Washington inspected Fort Vause at Shawsville, and a court document mentions Boone.

The writers, most from a historical background, have supplemented their knowledge from a wide array of Southwest Virginia publications, court records and other documents to give a complete picture of their county. They have enlarged upon earlier, shorter histories of Christiansburg, Blacksburg and the county.

A valuable feature is a chapter on Lewis Miller, a folk artist and "chronicler of the 19th century," by Su Clauson-Wicker. Miller's sketches of everyday life and rural scenery in the late 1800s appear throughout the book. Miller, whose work is celebrated nationally, came from Pennsylvania to live in Christiansburg and left his name with the museum that published the history.

Among the many glimpses of Montgomery County gleaned from the book:

n In 1826, a visitor wrote that a fox hunter's horn replaced a church bell on the Sabbath, "a day for visiting and pleasure."

n Among the early villages were Carnegie City, once Big Spring and later Elliston; Rough and Ready; Five Forks, later called Auburn and then Riner; and Lovely Mount, later Radford.

n Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, forerunner of Virginia Tech, was established in 1872, and its farm campus was purchased in 1896.

n The Radford Army Ammunition Plant, built at the outset of World War II, employed more than 23,000 people in construction. Its operational work force of a peak of 15,000 came from 45 states; five daily trains carried Roanoke area workers to the plant.

The history has a striking cover, featuring "The Great Road," a mural painted under a federal art program and installed in the Christiansburg post office in 1939. The oil painting illustrates county scenes.