[citation needed] It rises in the Appalachian Mountains in extreme southeastern Kentucky, in northeastern Harlan County, approximately 5 mi (8 km) from the Virginia state line.

[citation needed] The Kentucky River basin, including Middle Fork and its tributaries, suffered a major flood in January and February 1957.

[4] 20 commercial buildings in Hyden were flooded, and the local lumber company had a lot of its stock swept away.

[6] The name of Hell-For-Certain Creek comes, anecdotally, from the bad experience of a pair of travellers navigating its waters.

[57] It is a common favourite name to use in stories about travelling in Kentucky, although the eye dialect pronunciation of "Hell For Sartin" that is employed by storytellers is incorrect and considered offensive and insulting by native Kentuckyans.

[57] The Osha post office was established by postmaster William C. "Short Buckel Bill" Begley on 1906-09-15.

[6] It was at several sites on Big Fork, then in 1942 postmasters Ethel Pilatos (née Woods and Lilbern's sister) and her husband Sam Pilatos (an immigrant from Greece) moved it to the site of Sam's store that, then was and still now is, located at the mouth of Devils Jump and called The Mouth of Devils Jump Branch.

[6] Because of other similarly named post offices and mail being misdirected, on 1945-03-01 Omarsville was renamed Kaliopi after Sam's mother (c.f.

[13] The second is that early travellers discovered the aftermath of a forest fire in the area and so named it after the "thousand sticks", i.e. charred tree stumps.