Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Item 1 - Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Item 16 - Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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Item

Details
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
- Type
  - Text
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Identifier
  - GSMNP_13150_19_1185_11
Transcript

Early Explorers in the Great Smokies 65 the range in this spot and that, described its beauty of scenery and diversity of flora and fauna, but it remained for this man of foreign birth, an American by adoption, to penetrate these mountains, spend months among them, measure their heights for the first time, and have drawn under his own direction the first map we have showing the range in detail. Born in Szwitzerland in 1807, Guyot early showed evidences of his genius, directing his efforts to the study of physical geography. His attainments in that science brought wide recognition throughout all Europe, and he was given the chair of Physical Georgraphy and History at the University of Neuchatel, a position he held for several years, until disturbed political conditions led him to leave his native land and come to America, to join his old friend and co- laborer Louis Agassiz. Guyot's talents were immediately recognized in his adopted home, and even before he gained command of the language he was lecturing to various colleges and scientific bodies. In 1854 he was offered the chair of Geology and Physical Geography at Princeton, a post he held for the remainder of his life. Shortly after coming to America he became intensely interested in the structure of the Appalachian System, and during the fifties devoted a number of summers to exploration among these mountains, his field work bringing him to the mountain regions of North Carolina, where he explored and mapped the Great Smokies.37 From the beginning of his acquaintance Guyot professed himself deeply interested in the Smokies and of them he says: "By the general altitude of both its peaks and its crest, by its perfect continuity, its great roughness and difficulty of approach, it may be called the master chain of the Appalachian System."38 It would not be amiss to quote here what further he has to say concerning this "master chain" :39 For over fifty miles it forms a high and almost impervious barrier between Tennessee and the inside basins of North Carolina. Only one tolerable road, or rather mule- path, in this whole distance is found to cross from the great valley of Tennessee into the interior basins of North Carolina, and the road reaches its summit, the Road Gap, 37 For references to Guyot's life see Leonard Chester Jones, "Arnold Henry Guyot", in Faculty Papers of Union College, Union College Bulletin, XXIII, No. 2 (January 1930). 38 Arnold Guyot, Unpublished manscript memoir in the archives of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 3» Ibid.

Object

Description

This article titled, “Early Explorers in the Great Smokies” was written by Paul Fink and published in the East Tennessee Historical Society’s Publications. Fink signed, dated, and inscribed this copy to George Masa. Born Masahara Iizuka and raised in Japan, George Masa (1881-1933) was active in the Appalachian Trail Club and in the movement to establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Paul M. Fink (1892-1980), a hiker and advocate of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, served on the Tennessee Nomenclature Committee. Working with George Masa and others, he was largely responsible for routing the Appalachian Trail through the Great Smokies and nearby mountain ranges.
Details
- Creator
  - Fink, Paul M.
- Contributor
  - East Tennessee Historical Society
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
- Type
  - Text
- Date
  - Date original: 1933
  - Date digitized: 2015-11-02
- Extent
  - Dimension: 9.75" x 6.5"
  - Pages: 16 pages
- Subject - Topic
- Location
  - Great Smoky Mountains (N.C. and Tenn.)
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Source Collection
  - George Masa Collection
- Identifier
  - GSMNP_13150_19_1185
- Repository
  - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Early Explorers in the Great Smokies

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