Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Hiking itineraries and notes

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

Object
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).

  • These 25 pages include hand-written and typed itineraries and notes on various trips into the Smokies. They include distances to and from various points. Most likely these notes belonged to either Horace Kephart or George Masa; they were among Masa’s papers. George Masa (1881-1933) was active in the Appalachian Trail Club and in the movement to establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 1931, he was named to the three-person nomenclature committee for the North Carolina Park Commission and had the responsibility for accurately naming the peaks, streams, and other features. Mutual interests fostered Masa’s friendship with Horace Kephart (1862-1931), a noted author and promoter of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kephart and Masa often hiked together with park officials on inspection trips and provided information to stir public interest. Kephart wrote many articles promoting regional conservation and the park movement.