Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Great Smoky Mountains National Park / Land of the Everlasting Hills

  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-5327.jpg
15 / 84
Item
  • Ages Old THEODORE ROOSEVELT, nature lover and ardent advocate of conservation, was greatly interested in the Great Smoky Mountains. Speaking of them he once remarked: "These great mountains are old in the history of the continent which has grown up about them. The hardwood forests were born on their slopes and have spread thence over the eastern half of the continent. More than once in the remote geologic past they have disappeared before the sea on the east, south, and west, and before the ice on the north; but here in the Southern Appalachian region they have lived on to the present day." The Smokies are among the oldest mountains in the world. Geologists declare that their formation dates back into uncounted centuries. Nobody seems to know who named them the Great Smoky Mountains. About two thousand Cherokee Indians are still living on their reservation on the North Carolina side, and none of them can tell you. The white mountaineers and their forefathers have always known them simply as "the Smokies." Horace Kephart, foremost authority on the history of these mountains, says: "Any visitor in the Smokies can see for himself what suggested the symbolism. Nearly always there hovers over the high tops and around them, a tenuous mist, a dreamy blue haze, like that of Indian summer, or deeper. Often it grows so dense as almost to shut out the distant view, as smoke does that has spread from a far-off forest fire. Then it is a "great smoke" that covers all the outlying world; the rim of the earth is but a few miles away; beyond is mystery, enchantment." Even Mr. Kephart leaves us unenlightened, and neither he nor any other writer has ever adequately described the haze which enshrouds these age-old hills. One will say it is "bluish purple"; another will describe it as "purplish blue." Some beautiful paintings of the Smokies have been exhibited, but no artist has ever been able to satisfy the critical eye of one who knows and loves these majestic towers of creation. It should be borne in mind, however, that the "mist" referred to so often in connection with these mountains, is not a fog or other form of dampness. Neither is it smoke. It seems to be more dense at times, but always lends beauty and attraction. This mysterious haze has always been seen, and is not, as some uninformed have thought, due to a drift of smoke from over the surrounding territory. Copyright, Jim Thompson Co. ALUM CAVE BLUFF, ON THE SIDE OF MOUNT LeCONTE, A FAVORITE HAUNT OF THE EXPERIENCED SMOKY MOUNTAINS HIKER
Object