White Oak Flats

Old-Time Mountain Song There’s a place in Tennessee, just across the line, No one ever goes up there, it’s too rough a climb, You won’t find the name or place wrote on any map, Folks down here ’round Shelton’s Trace calls it White Oak Flats. Hazel Taylor was my wife, and I loved her so, We was married on Shelton’s Trace, fifteen years ago, Now I lie here all alone, wonderin’ on the past, Wonderin’ why she left our home to go to White Oak Flats. I don’t know how he looked at her, I don’t know what he said, I don’t know what he could have done, to turn poor Hazel’s head, Never in her darkest hour, could she imagine that, She’d agree to go with him, up to White Oak Flats. I can see the rocky trail up the mountain side, I can see poor Hazel, now, lying by his side, Folks down here still talks about how it come to pass, Nothing but the silence now, up on White Oak Flats. Hazel Tighrow is a woman born far back in the Appalachian Mountains, in the early decades of the Twentieth Century, who explodes all the stereotypes. Where she “should” be an unlettered drudge, ready to marry young, and produce ten children, she is, instead, a reflective, self-taught, well-read, and sensitive young woman, who desperately wants the freedom to grow into herself. Still, because she is so aware, she knows whence she comes, and tries to fit-in as best she can. She eventually marries a caring young man, George Taylor, and does what she can to settle-in to the life of the mountains. Listen to the author’s recording of the White Oak Flats song played on a fretless gourd-banjo, in the old two-finger style on YouTube.

Hiking Trails of the Great Smoky Mountains is an essential guide to one of America’s most breathtaking and rugged national parks. The second edition of this compellingly readable and useful book is completely updated, giving outdoor enthusiasts the most current information they need to explore this world-renowned wilderness. Included here are facts on more than 125 official trails recognized by the Park Service. Each one has its own setting, purpose, style, and theme, and author Kenneth Wise describes them in rich and vivid detail. For every route, he includes a set of driving directions to the trailhead, major points of interest, a schedule of distances to each one, a comprehensive outline of the trail’s course, specifics about where it begins and ends, references to the U.S. Geological Survey’s quadrangle maps, and, when available, historical anecdotes relating to the trail. His colorful descriptions of the area’s awe-inspiring beauty are sure to captivate even armchair travelers. Organized by sections that roughly correspond to the seventeen major watersheds in the Smokies, Wise starts in Tennessee and moves south into North Carolina, with two major trails—the Lakeshore and the Appalachian—that traverse several watersheds treated independently. Further enhancing the utility of this volume is the inclusion of the Great Smoky Mountains’ official trail map as well as an informative introduction filled with details about the geology, climate, vegetation, wildlife, human history, and environmental concerns of the region. A seasoned outdoorsman with more than thirty years of experience in the area and codirector of the Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Wise brings an exceptional depth of knowledge to this guide. Both experienced hikers and novices will find this newly revised edition an invaluable resource for trekking in the splendor of the Smokies.

The Collected Works of Benjamin Hawkins provides a comprehensive collection of the most important sources on the late historic Creek Indians and their environment.