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WCU - Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America

Great Smoky Mountains and the National Park

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Great Smoky Mountains and the National Park

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Great Smoky Mountains and the National Park

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Item’s are ‘child’ level descriptions to ‘parent’ objects, (e.g. one page of a whole book).

  • ( UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE r- THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS AND THE NATIONAL PARK KY HGKACE KEPHART. One flay last fall I was called to Asheville to meet Robert Sterling Yard, executive secretary of the National Parks association. At dinner Mr. Yard told me: "Our organization has an afnliateiS membership of between four and Ave million people. Its object Is to help guard the national parks of the United States against the inroads of commercialism that would exploit and ruin them for private gain and to see that the parks are kept up to a high standard. "When we learned that the department of the Interior thought of establishing a national park in tho Great Smoky mountains, on the border- of North Carolina and Tennessee, our association sent me here to Inspect the »!te and report back to them whether It really measured tip to the national standard or 'whether it had been overrated by local pride." He continued: "Frankly, I was skeptical on that point 1 had to b* shown that your country has the preeminent scenic value that you Claim for it. Of course. I knew that the Southern Appalachian park commission, appointed by Secretary Work at the direction of Congress, had spent eight months inspecting all suggested park sites in the south. I knew that they had report ed: : 'Of all possible sites the Great Smoky mountains easily stand first, because of the height of mountains, depth, of valleys, ruggedness of the area, and the unexampled variety of trees, shrubs and plants.' But even that recommendation was not enough to convince us that the best location in eastern America would stand on equal footing with the Yellowstone, the Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and our other western parks." "Well," said I, "you have just now returned from ihe Smokies. You have seen them. Are you skeptical?" FOUND SOMETHING UNIQUES. - "No," he replied with emphasis. "Kephart, I have found something In the Smokies that is unique, something that no other park possesses. I do not mean just scenery, though tn that respect the Smokies have ail that the commission claims for them. I mean something that not only delights the eye but that wins the heart. TheFe is a carm in the Smokies that defies analysis." "How does it affect you?" "In this way—Some other region may rut?© more extraordinary, more awe-inspiring features. But when you have seen one of those wonders of nature, such a geyser, a glacier, a lofty pinnacle or a profound fruit, why—yon have seen it. see that same show over again, any You don't care to go back again to more than you would pay admission to see a theatrical show the second time. But the Smokies lure you back. You want to return and linger there. You love them. My wife and daughter and T were bo overcome with this affection for the Great Smoky mountains that we are going to come back and build our summer home here." INTO A WTLD EDEN. Everyon® who has once climbed up into the high Smokies, away back from the highways and railroads, into the wild Eden that still remains there in all its primeval majesty and beauty, experiences this same feeling. Major Welch, of the park commission, when he was here last summer, expressed it this way: "Nowhere else in all the world is nature so much my mother as in the Great Smokies. There I rest in her bosom and am satisfied." I myself came into the Smokies 22 years ago, when they were as un known as the heart of Africa. I was moved by a spirit of exploration and adventure. I had no idea of staying here mroe than two or three months. But I fell in love with the Smokies, and here I have stayed. What is the secret of that charm, that fascination of the Smokies, which lingers so lovingly In one's memory when he is away and lures him irrestlbly to return? I have often pondered over it; but. like Mr. Yard. I confess that ft defies analysis. In part, however, it is due to the superb and wonderfully varied forest primeval that
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Great Smoky Mountains - A Park for America

This digital collection was created to contribute to the public's understanding of the forces and ideas that led to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1934. The most vi...

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