History of
the
Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky
Mountains have some deep rich history dating back to the 1700's.
The first European settlers found themselves amongst the
Cherokee Indians. After adopting much of the European
culture, the majority of the Cherokee were forcibly moved to
land in Oklahoma, an event referred to as the "Trail of Tears".
The Cherokee that remained or made their way back are the
ancestors of some that live on the reservation near
The Great
Smoky Mountains National Park today.
By the 1900's
life was much easier than it had been when the area was first
settled. People had lived off the land; farming, hunting
for food, cutting the trees down for building, and raising
livestock. Many areas that had at one time been forest
were turned into pastures and clearings for towns.
By the 20th
century things had changed again in the
Great Smoky Mountains.
Agricultural lifestyles gave way to lumbering. Within a
span of about twenty years most people did not depend on
agriculture as their main stay - people were dependent upon
manufacturing, lumber and store bought items. Lumber and
logging boom towns sprang up all over the place, some of them
still in existence today: Elkmont, Proctor, Smokemont and
Tremont.
Much of the
beautiful forest landscape was being cleared and unless
something changed in a hurry, trees would become almost extinct
in what we now call
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Intervention came in the way of a declaration -
The Great Smoky
Mountain Park was established in 1934. The 20% of forest
that remained within the boundaries of the park was preserved.
The people that lived in the park (about 1,200) moved out and
left behind buildings, mills, schools and churches. Over
70 of these structures still remain and are maintained by the
park, making it the largest collection of historic log buildings
in the Eastern United States.
Below is a
brief timeline of events and milestones in the
Great Smoky
Mountains...
| 1540 |
Hernando De
Soto explores the southern Appalachian Mountains and
encounters the Cherokee who had inhabited the region for
centuries |
| 1775 |
Botanist
William Bartram explores the southern Appalachians |
| 1795 |
Mingus and
Hughes families clear homesteads in Oconaluftee River
Valley |
| 1814 |
Caldwells
establish first homestead in Cataloochee Valley |
| 1818-1821 |
First
non-Indians settle in Cades Cove |
| 1819 |
Cherokee
relinquish claim to the last of their lands in the Smoky
Mountains |
| 1830 |
Population
of Cades Cove is 271 |
| 1838-1839 |
Most of the
Cherokee tribe moved from Southeast to Oklahoma along the
"Trail of Tears" |
| 1839 |
Oconaluftee
Turnpike between Oconaluftee and Indian Gap completed |
| 1850 |
Population
of Cades Cove is 685 |
| 1861-1865 |
American
Civil War Mountaineers are divided in their allegiances. |
| 1870-1875 |
John P.
Cable Mill built in Cades Cove |
| 1882 |
Little
Greenbrier School built |
| 1886 |
Mingus Mill
built |
| 1900 |
Population
of Cades Cove is 708 |
| 1903-1904 |
Lumber
companies set up operations on Eagle and Hazel Creeks |
| 1908 |
Elkmont
logging camp constructed |
| 1910 |
Population
of Cataloochee is 1,251 |
| 1913 |
Horace
Kephart's Our Southern Highlanders is published |
| 1934 |
Great Smoky
Mountains National Park is established |
| 1939 |
Little River
Lumber Company finishes cutting timber in the Tremont area |
|
