It Happened In The Great Smokies

In writing this book, Dr. Pierce's goal was to "humanize the moonshiner." He does this with objectivity and compassion in telling the story of how moonshining was often a necessity for farm families in the remote Smoky Mountain region.

From an eighteenth-century Cherokee feast to a deadly wildfire that destroyed a town, It Happened in the Great Smokies looks at intriguing people and episodes from the history of America’s most visited national park. It Happened in the Great Smokies includes thirty-one fascinating stories about events and ten biographies of people that shaped this famous national park in the states of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Seeking a taste of unspoiled wilderness, more than eight million people visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park each year. Yet few probably realize what makes the park unusual: it was the result of efforts to reclaim wilderness rather than to protect undeveloped land. The Smokies have, in fact, been a human habitat for 8,000 years, and that contact has molded the landscape as surely as natural forces have. In this book, Daniel S. Pierce examines land use in the Smokies over the centuries, describing the pageant of peoples who have inhabited these mountains and then focusing on the twentieth-century movement to create a national park. Drawing on previously unexplored archival materials, Pierce presents the most balanced account available of the development of the park. He tells how park supporters set about raising money to buy the land--often from resistant timber companies--and describes the fierce infighting between wilderness advocates and tourism boosters over the shape the park would take. He also discloses the unfortunate human cost of the park's creation: the displacement of the area's inhabitants. Pierce is especially insightful regarding the often-neglected history of the park since 1945. He looks at the problems caused by roadbuilding, tree blight, and air pollution that becomes trapped in the mountains' natural haze. He also provides astute assessments of the Cades Cove restoration, the Fontana Lake road construction, and other recent developments involving the park. Full of outstanding photographs and boasting a breadth of coverage unmatched in other books of its kind, The Great Smokies will help visitors better appreciate the wilderness experience they have sought. Pierce's account makes us more aware of humanity's long interaction with the land while capturing the spirit of those idealistic environmentalists who realized their vision to protect it. The Author: Daniel S. Pierce teaches in the department of history and the humanities program at the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and is a contributor to The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.

A hiking memoir by “a man whose soul is held in thrall by remote places in the Smokies where . . . rising trout and fog-laden valleys rule supreme” (Jim Casada, The Literature of Hiking in the Smokies). Bill Hart has hiked, camped and fished in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than forty years. In over three thousand miles of walking, he has recorded experiences and impressions that will delight readers of all ages. Whether exploring some of the most remote sections of the Smokies, angling for trout, meeting mountain folk, or marveling at the flora and fauna around him, Bill has a gift for heartfelt storytelling and a wealth of knowledge to share about the park. Join him for an unforgettable journey through a beloved national treasure. Includes photos “[A] collection of essays and journal entries of over 40 years of hiking, camping and exploring in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.” —Go Knoxville “A compilation of thoughts and reminiscences of his wonderful days and nights there.” —Smoky Scout’s Hiking Adventures

Is it possible that the woman who raised Abraham Lincoln was actually his half-sister, and that the man he knew as his grandfather had conducted a scandalous affair with a servant girl? Was Nancy Dude really a murderous witch, or the victim of relentless calamities that would stretch anyone beyond the bounds of sanity? Should Horace Kephart be considered a hero for his work to protect the area of the Great Smokies, where a moutain was named in his honor, or a drunken scoundrel who uprooted families from the homes and farms they’d had for generations? From Sam Houston’s childhood among the Cherokee to the mysterious “road to nowhere”, Great SmokiesMyths and Legends makes history fun and pulls back the curtain on some of this national park’s most fascinating and compelling stories.

The Great Smoky Mountains, at the border of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, are among the highest peaks of the southern Appalachian chain. Although this area shares much with the cultural traditions of all southern Appalachia, the folklife here has been uniquely shaped by historical events, including the Cherokee Removal of the 1830s and the creation of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park a century later. This book surveying the rich folklife of this special place in the American South offers a view of the culture as it has been defined and changed by scholars, missionaries, the federal government, tourists, and people of the region themselves. Here is an overview of the history of a beautiful landscape, one that examines the character typified by its early settlers, by the displacement of the people, and by the manner in which the folklife was discovered and defined during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Here also is an examination of various folk traditions and a study of how they have changed and evolved.

This illustrated guide explores the immense variety of plants and animals found in one of the country's largest and most-visited national parks. Also includes information on the Smoky Mountains' history, geology, and special points of interest. 60 color photos.