Christine Cole Proctor speaks about how her family and others were moved from their homes so that the Fontana Dam could be built. The Dam, completed in 1945 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is built on the Little Tennessee River and is located near Fontana Village in Graham County, North Carolina. Cole also mentions the cementaries that the TVA had intitially acquired from the community but had later neglected to maintain. James L.Sizemore, whose family owned approximately 1,000 acres on the North Shore of the Fontana Dam, discusses how the building of the Fontana Dam and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park resulted in widespread displacement of people in Swain and Graham counties. Proctor and Sizemore also mention a road that was supposed to have been built by the Park authorities on land that had been acquired by the Park from the TVA.

• Creator
  • Proctor, Christine Cole
  • Sizemore, James L.
• Contributor
  • Atzenhoffer, T. Rhydon
• Format
  • Transcripts
  • Interviews
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date interview: 2009-11-20
  • Date: 1900s (Decade); 1910s; 1920s; 1930s; 1940s;
  • Date digitized: 2014-12-04
• Extent
  • Duration: 10 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • Autobiography
  • Cemeteries
  • Dams -- Economic aspects
  • Dams -- Social aspects
  • Events
  • Fontana Dam (N.C.)
  • Graham County (N.C.)
  • Proctor, Christine Cole
  • Sizemore, James L. -- Interviews
  • Swain County (N.C.) -- History
• Location
  • Swain County (N.C.)
  • Graham County (N.C.)
  • North Carolina, Western
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Oral History Collection - HIST 474/574
• Identifier
  • HL_HIST474_Atzenhoffer_Proctor_Sizemore_2009-11-20_transcript
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library

INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINE PROCTOR/AND THEN JAMES SIZEMORE R[Rhydon Atzenhoffer]- Will you please state your name Mrs. Christine C- My name is Christine Cole Proctor R-And do you know that this conversation is being taped C-Yes I do R-And are you OK with it being used for academic purposes? C-Yes I am R-Now the first thing that I would like to ask you is how long have your lived in Swain County C-Well, actually all my life, I have always lived in Swain County • R-Now in your opinion, when the Fontana Dam was first built, what was the general consensus of the community at the time. C-People were very like, you gotta understand that it was such a way oflife to them, it was very upsetting, they began to, as a child, they would begin to worry about what are we going to do now? Where do you think we need to move? And I wish they wouldn't do this, and of course they were very disturbed. And the TV A people who came around, I don't know what all kind of stories that they told to the people, I guess their main job was to get the people to sign over their land and move on out because they had used different reasons to get people to move, like the war effort and like goodness you will have better living opportunities and just different things and try to talk the people into selling their land peacefully and not give them a hassle and there were a few people who gave them a hassle and that refused to move, and I know Will Jenkins, he was a poor fellow and his wife lived in the community and they didn't move until the water was backed up and he would walk through the mountains into town to get their supplies and he would pack it back on a mule and they stayed on in there by themselves for eons of time until I guess they got too rough for them in the winter and cold and through the woods and mountains to get to town to get their stuff and the town would be up here in Bryson. And yea, it was a disturbing time, that and people, they were given, and the cemeteries were a big issue, and I have a paper I have to give you that I have written about the cemeteries and about people leaving their cemeteries and it you know it was just a very very hard time and during this time, some of the families had sons in service and lots oftimes when the sons came home on furlough or came home from the war, lots of times they didn't know where their families were, so yea, that was sad. R-I get from your impression that you had immediate family and friends who were affected as well as yourself, what was the closest community are that you lived in, were you closer to Epp Springs or Proctor, or which area? C-Fomey Creek, Forney Creek, if you were going down old 288 and you would pass Goldmine Branch and just before you got to the mouth of Forney Creek, there was a little road up the mountain, it was very steep, and you could get on horses and sleds, we didn't have like a vehicle, we didn't have like a car or truck or anything, so when we moved up there, my grandmother's family, I guess they moved there in a sled, and like I said it was steep and there was like a big rock and it was like a chair, the rock had a back and the rock part of it was flat and people would often stop there and rest and it was very unique and when you got up to the top of the hill, little mountain, then it opened up and began to flatten out a very pretty lay-out in a valley and on each side there would be the mountain and it would open it and that's where my grandparents lived and we lived with them and took care of my grandmother, but anyway, they had water and a nice spring and there was a branch that came close to the house and even on up the road from where 1 we lived, my dad's brother lived, and his family, so we were the only two families that lived up in there, so it was good, a good setting a very pretty lay out of the land, so then we were about, if we came back down and got on the road 288, we were about a mile from the mouth ofFomey Creek and that's where the store was and we had a little store, and at one time the train stopped there and he would drop the mail out on a little pouch onto a little pole that stood out at the railroad track and John Monteith had a store, so when we needed bread or necessities, some of the kids would go down to the store and buy what we needed and walk back home. Not very few people had cars in those days. And the incidences I remember that happened down there, if I don't get too carried away here, was John Monteith got snake bit once, he was in the com crib getting shucking com and he got bit by a copperhead, and he was really, really sick, but he luckily • had a car and got himself to the doctor and that kind of thing, so he survived the snake bit and so it was a pretty close knit community, families didn't live right next door but it was good and the memories that I have was good. And I liked to play in the evening the old folks would sit out on the porch and the kids would get out in the yard and play little games like leap frog and ante over was a poplar game and we would throw the ball across the house and others would catch it, and tag and who ever had the most players got to be the winners, and it was a good life and it was fun. R-What was your parents background, were they farmers or were they involved in any of the industries that were located in the area? C-They were, the lumber company, my dad and all his brothers and my mom's family, the Woodys, they were all lumber people, you know when the Ritter and the big lumber companies came in and cutting out all the big timbers and that is what they did and when the lumber companies left out it sort of left a hardship on the people to make a living, but my dad was able to get a ride up to what was then called Shank's mill and it turned into Carolina and then Singer, but my dad came up there and worked for a good while before we were forced out, so yea, we made it pretty good, but most people did farm and they were pretty self sufficient, they made what they needed, grew what they needed to eat, you know they had the lamps and things for their electricity, you know they made it pretty good. Actually a lot of people I am sure, felt like we were poor or that most people were poor, but those people you might consider rich in land, because most people had their land, they could do their own farming and raise their own cattle and pigs and whatever, chickens and every thing, they might not have had a lot of cash but they had plenty of land and knew how to take care of their land back in those days. R-Do you feel, like having to move, do feel a significant loss to your heritage in that area, because you were grown up to be self-sufficient people and relying on yourselves and suddenly you didn't have to do that? C-Right, it was kind oflike having your life interrupted, and you can never really go back, but you can go back in memory, but I feel like it took a lot from the people and their families, and even a lot of older people when they got older, they always wanted to go home and often would be wondering at night, and they would say "where are your going" and they said "we got to go home" and that was what they were referring to as they knew it, down the river. And one man, I heard Shirley Hyde, Shirley Guge Hyde, her grandfather was walking home and was walking down the trestle and the train came and I don't know if he fell off or if he got scared but he fell in the lake and he drown and it was a month or so before they found his body and so he you know he was trying to get home, so it really had an affect on the people, they were just kind of talked 2 into this and they would be patriotic if they went ahead and did all this, but really in NC it was the prettiest part of Swain County, at least we thought so, so I guess we think so, and you know the joke, almost everybody knew the joke about actually that didn't benefit Swain County that much, it benefited the State of Tennessee more than it did Swain County, so the old joke is "NC feeds the cow and TN gets the milk" so that's kind of put a wedge in the relationship with the neighboring state. Yes, there was a lot of bitterness that has gone on and a lot of sadness. And if they had followed through with what they promised so much and they have done nothing as you will see when I give you my report on the cemeteries, TV A bought that cemetery out there and do you think that they followed through and kept that cemetery up, oh no, they just dumped back into the laps of the people again and some of the older people that were so directly affected with • this move, so they kept the cemetery going, sort of, as long as they lived and a lot them have died and a lot of the descendants have died or moved away and now we do the best that we can, we have yard sales and hopefully donations so we can keep it nice to where we can at least keep it mowed and keep the sagebrush and pine trees out of it, so that has been another sore spot with TV A and if we have ever asked to be included in their budget and give us upkeep, we have certainly been turned down on that, so that's been another kind of sore spot with the TV A R-You had mentioned earlier a picture ofyour home on the wall, can you give me a brief description of what it is? C-Yes, that was when the TV A came through taking pictures of people's property and their homes that was where we lived and in the picture you will see me and my sister in the edge of the yard, we were home that day when the picture, I guess there was no one there and the TV A people asked us to come out there and let them take our picture, and you will see our dog, laying on the porch, an old collie dog, and he was a wonderful dog, and when dad would get after some of us kids, that dog would get after dad, ha,ha, he didn't want anything to happen to the kids, and I think I see dad's underwear hanging on the porch, you can see that, it was a TVA picture and our house was not too bad and in the picture is my late husband's home, Troy's home, they lived up on Chambers Creek and of course they were forced out too and along with all of the other people who settled along the rivers and creeks down there, it was a huge thing and I wonder if they attempted to do that today, ifthey could I don't know, imminent domain does a lot. R-Aside from you are going to be patriotic and help your country, was there ever anything else promised, power rates or they would assist you to relocating or anything of that sort? C-Not that I remember, but some people they did I was young and I wouldn't remember the details of all that everything they were promised, I don't know, now they said "you can move to where you can get electricity" and of course, they gave you what they wanted you to have for the property, and looking back on that, why lord have mercy you could not begin to replace the property of the families who were forced out, so I don't know. I am not sure on that. R-As far as we also mentioned the people who refused to leave, were there any of the actions that the TV A took toward these people when they were trying to get these people to leave? C-Well when they refused and refused the money, TVA would take the money and put it in the bank in their name and of course, they knew it would be just a matter of time that the hardship would force them to leave, they would be cut totally off unless they went through the woods, the woods would be the path they had taken so far as building the roads back to the home places and cemeteries, that was the way Will Jenkins came through the woods, he came across through Woody branch and Hickory Flats and through Noland Creek and he came through there coming 3 to town, but of course, that was a hardship, so they didn't have to really force them because when they seen the water coming up, they thought they better get moving out except him and he lived above the high water mark. R-Was there anything that the people did as far as trying to fight the TV A, was there any actions or were people still under the belief that they were helping their country. C-The still believed they were still trying to help their country and it would help the war efforts and most were willing to help do that and feeling patriotic. R-Following the construction of the dam and the filling of the reservoir, how did the feelings of the people of Swain County change, after it was all said and done? Was it a feeling of animosity that they feel that they were swindled out of what was theirs or a feeling that we're just going to • have to move on? C-Most people harbored a little bad feelings I believe and they still do, but if they had followed through with all that they had taken from all these people and just forced out, close the gate and you can't go back, but these people for many many years waited and trusted the government to build that road back and at least go back to their cemeteries, that meant a lot to most of the people back in those days, it was important to them because they died and left their families and stuff- yes, I think that would have helped their feelings if they could have driven back down an shown their grandchildren "look this is where we lived" and you know I have a niece who is very very handicapped and never will she be able to go see, I mean she can't walk and she can't go on a boat, and those kind of things, sort of irritate me a little bit about the fact that they did not follow through with their promise and if they did that I believe people would be OK with it, most people. R-When you mention the boat, do you mean the Park taking people to see the cemeteries? C- Right, they have a schedule and once or twice a year they take people across in the boat and let you out and they have these jeeps and they take you up the roads to the cemetery and of course older people with arthritis find this very hard mode of travel and if they have to climb in and out of those kind of jeeps and those kind of thing they just don't go, some people are afraid of water and the fear of water and their health they just don't go, but most of us people who are able to go are thankful that we have that opportunity to go because we have been able to buy a lot of monuments and put them there so those cemeteries will hopefully never grow up and become wilderness, because that land is not wilderness land people have lived there for many many generations and people before the Indian people lived there and most of the people around here can relate how the Indian's had to go on the "Trail ofTears", so that is kind of a story, we do a little bit, it wasn't pleasant. R-Have there ever been any discussions of perhaps moving the cemeteries or did the people feel that just wanted to leave the people be? C-Yes there was a discussion and the ones that was under the water of course they did have to move those but some of the others, they had a choice, but if they were back off of the water, back off the water line, they didn't see a need to, some of them moved them and some of them didn't, some of them chose to leave the graves, they didn't want to disturb the graves, I'm sort oflike that, I don't believe that you ought to disturb the graves, dig them up and move the body, I don't like that either, and why should they have wanted to because they did promise that if they took what they wanted that they would build roads and we could go back to it and visit the cemeteries. R-Breakjust now. Now I am just going to ask if you will state your names, you who just walked 4 in here- S-State my name? R-Yes S-James Sizemore R-Ifyoudon't mind, can he add anything ifhe feels like C-That would be fine if he wants he knows quite a bit, his family was from down, his family is from the North Shore. S-Oh yea, my daddy side there was about three generations came from down there and on my mama's side that was a couple of generations came from down there--yea, it is very unfortunate, well I believe all together we had about 1,000 acres, all together, yes close to a 1000 acres and • there have been a lot of sadness in the people through the years, they know they won't get their property back, and they could put the road in though, it would be easy to drive, I think that it would be very beneficial to the Park Service so they could get in there an every other Park Service in the world if you go somewhere on the Park, they have roads leading to their property. On that side of the lake, that's not enough, just trails and this has caught me pretty sudden, I wasn't prepared for it, but yea they should build the road, and its good for them because if they had fires and they could check on it and they say it brings in about $10,000,000.00 per year revenue for Swain County. Swain County right now it's in the hole and they would never have to worry about money. C-Cemetery money R-Now in your personal opinions, do you feel that the Government and TVA over exerted their use of imminent domain in order to acquire the land? S-They did, yea that was during war times and a lot of the men had to go off and fight the war, kind oflike some of the Indians, when they left their little tribe and went off to fight, all that was left there was old and women, yea I am sure they did, and then the soldiers came home from war and tried to drive back down there and can't find their house and can't find their family they relocated them, kind of sad, really R-You had mentioned that your ancestors had probably about a 1000 acres, had they been in the logging industry or were they farmers or what had been their heritage in the area? S-They moved in there in the late 1800's about 1890, they worked copper mines, logging, farmers; I don't even know how much money they got, I heard about $2.00 per acre, is that about right? C-I'd say approximately, S-I know my granny Laura she just barely had enough to come back to Bryson City and buy a little bitty house down on Lemons Branch, and a small place with about a half acre ofland. R-Now where had your family been in the area, where was their nearest community or creek? S-Chambers Creek, Kirkland Branch and Eagle Creek, which was close to the dam, one hollow above, that's where the copper mines were, also, my grandpas were employed by TVA working on the dam. One of them lost his life working in the copper mine, James Herbert Sizemore, and James Roosevelt had a heart attack in 39 I believe it was. Yea, he was running a motor grader for TV A, he had health problems. C-I might point out if I may that when the Park first came in and they started looking for the area for the park, all they wanted was the mountain terrain, that back country back in there, so a lot of families, that was when Roosevelt made his talk on the mountain and there was not suppose to be 5 any added or none taken away, but I guess they got greedy, but a lot of families had to move two times for the Park, because they moved from the back country between the lake and the park, they got land there and thinking that would be all that they would take, and they got greedy and they decided that they wanted the strip of land between the lake and the Park and so those people had to go and move again, so that was kind of not a nice thing either, like a bunch of people got awful greedy all of the sudden and force these people off the land. And when these people came following the Indian removal, and got this land, nobody didn't want it or didn't care anything about it and then all of a sudden, all over the world their fussing over this Park and Park land and denying these people, and these are the people who gained the most and got the least. We don't want people to go in there and tear it up, you could call this group of people more • environmentalist than the environmentalist today, we just always felt like they owed us access back to it. R-You really feel these people were taken advantage of S-They were, C-Yes, they were S-We can kind of relate to the American Indians about being taken advantage of, we're all in about the same boat, aren't we? C-Yea, really, I feel like they were taken advantage of S-Yes, but the American Indians did get taken care of, we don't.. .. .laugh C-laugh S-But you, know the road building the road back $600 million, it could be built back for $225 million easily, so brings $10 million back to Swain County per year since 43, it wouldn't be that much now, but it would have been back then, there's a lot of money spent on other places, you know, plus they were supposed to mow the cemetery and I haven't heard of them mowing it once since then, C-Oh No, not that I know of R-Now from what I hear from other people, when they built Norristown, which became Fontana, for some reason TV A believed that would make a lot of people happy, that it would give people somewhere to go, but really that doesn't seem that had any affect on anyone. S-No, and Fontana Dam is not generating any power, they are just using it for a reservoir, Tennessee, for Tennessee exactly, that's all it is used for. C-I don't think people back then cared very much for recreation back then, they had a simple way oflife, S-Family raising, Church going was their biggest deal, wasn't it? C-Yea, Church and sometimes they would get together and play music, like Rhydon does today or used to R-I still do C-Good, Good, That's what the old timers, they had a good time, they didn't worry too much S-They didn't have the worries like they do not, in civilization, like you and I, did they? C-No, No, S-That was a big territory wasn't it? C-Yea S-Hazel Creek had about 7500 people, that's a lot of people on Hazel Creek R-Now, was that land owners on Hazel Creek 6 S-I don't think 7500 people could own land on Hazel Creek do you? C-I don't know S-They had to be workers or sporting or sawmills there C-Some people I supposed traveled from Maryville, Tennessee and all around maybe part of from Georgia and SC to work there in the copper mine, supposedly that copper mine was one of the richest in the world S-At Eagle Creek? C-Yea S-Yea, it is, there's gold mines, silver mines, in that area. I don't know ifthe public knows it or not but they's a couple ofblack cemeteries got covered up with water ~ C-Yea, and at least one Indian cemetery, cause Mamie Crisp and Troy talked about that one that was between the river and the railroad track and they never got moved and the ignored the fact that they were there, I don't know why, it has never been mentioned, but some of the locals knew about it. R-The next thing is, I know this is one of the most touchy subjects of the whole situation, what is your personal opinions about the '43 Agreement? S-Build the road, right. Honor it, a promise is a promise. I know ifl go out there and promise somebody I would do something, I would do it, I may not want to do it, I may be so little that I don't want to do it, but I have to do it. C-It seems just a waste of money to build what they have already built there and cut it off and S-They blamed it on war, but war is over a long time and there's a lot of people would love, that would be just like any other National Park, why that side over there, you can't even get to it can you? C-No S-Why, you can do to any other National Park in every place in the country and you can at least drive through there and see the scenery. C-It's not going to do that much damage, you can see the road that is already built over there and it looks like it was just sit down and you can see that the banks are not messed up or anything, It's just S-Most of the roads are already there, all you got to do is just re-widened and cut a few trees, still got the gravel down there, good roads, level roads down there C-Yes S-They blamed it on a salamander once didn't they? C-(laugh) S-and some Indiana bat of some kind, they'll fly to another tree if you cut this one C-You know one time Jim Sneed said, one time, it's so funny, we were having a meeting about that road and there came an old woman from California and she said "oh, what about the salamanders?" He said "ifl'd have had a salamander, I'd struck that down her shirt collar" (laugh) You may not want to hear S-Those salamanders will run off if they hear the vibrations of a bull dozer, they ain't going to get run over, they will run off C-(laugh) Like David Cope used to say "I'm afraid they'll constipate the bears over there" C-He'll have to cut some of this out (laugh) S-They'll find any excuse; I don't know some reason not to build the road 7 R-Where there any, following in the 40's, where there any prominent community members who stood up to get the road built and stood up for the people, or did it still take a little time for momentum, or S-It was a promise after the war was over, they would come back and build the road, the used war you know to fund the war, and everybody was sitting in limbo C-Yes, They say "you waited too long" and that's not true exactly, because people are still believing that the government is going to build. I mean that is why they haven't pushed any harder than they have pushed, because we people of kind of, I guess, the Commissioners seem to want to please the people outside of Swain County that this affects the least and some people want to have it on the ballot and there are so many people that this affects who does not live in • Swain County now, that feel very strongly about what has happened and the people of Swain County, we couldn't vote, and we couldn't speak for all these people. S- Yes a lot of them has passed on and a lot of them on their death bed thinking that it would be built and died thinking that it would be built C-Yes S-But I won't even get to see it C-Yes that is true, but the Commissioners have not pushed it as hard as it should have been and that could have, it is kind oflike people come in and tell the locals what they can and cannot do, and that is not right. S-No, well, I don't know, we never can give up, it could happen, it's a predicament with this Park Service, I don't know why they want to be so stubborn, Mr. Ditman, I don't know where he came from but out West or somewhere C-I don't know, they shipped him in from somewhere out West I believe S-But you know that Duke Power ran transformer lines from SC all the way through that area last summer and nobody said anything to them, built towers and big wires, down there you saw it, you remember when we went to the Orr Cemetery, they built roads and lines all through there to the Tennessee line. They shouldn't even have to do that, because TVA don't even generate power, they just use the reservoir for Tennessee so they can flood their lakes and keep their water levels high C-I don't see that NC and Swain County gets any of the benefits. And when it comes to the money issue, can you imagine the government handing Swain County a big chunk of money and here sits little Graham County over here and they are involved in this too, and that was a beautiful, beautiful area, the pictures of Judson over there, and they gave up a lot too and a lot of homes and churches and a lot oflittle communities, and Graham County, it's not fair to hand Swain County a lot of money and ignore the other counties if affected and it still does S-Yes I understand that a lot of people left Graham County, it was closest wasn't it? C-Yes, oh yea, same families S-It wasn't very big then, Graham County didn't have nothing much C-No, no, and still don't have a whole lot S-And there are some big companies, earth moving and other companies, they offered to do it a lot cheaper to build the road, how long did they say it would take to build the road, 10 years? C-I don't know S-9 or 10 years, and that would put people to work here too. Instead of sending it to Iran and Iraq, I heard we've spent nearly 3 trillion over there. 8 R-Is there anything you would like to add as far as your family heritage and been important and one of the important things I want to get to the root of is how people felt before and after? S-See I got two grandpas that have passed and I never really got to talk to them and my granny, daddy's mother, they always had hopes they would get back down there, because they didn't like it here and they never settled here and that was the heart of Swain County at that time it was the heart, it actually had a jump on Asheville at that time, as far as industry, it really did, and the railroads going into there, it did really have more going for it than Asheville did, and Asheville is a pretty be place, and I am sure that area could be as big, but my daddy often visited that area when he was alive, he always went back to Eagle Creek and he was going to take me, but I never got to go and show me the old columns where I was born, that's all that is left and really there should be ~ a vote in Swain County and there are so many who have moved here into Swain County, you should have to be a direct descendent ofthe North Shore area to vote, it's not hard to prove, you know, let us vote for it, not the Commissioners, most of them didn't come from there, one does, David Monteith, he does support us, his family did come from down there and if it wasn't for him we would not have a voice with the Commission or have a chance, I have trouble with my voice, it's not very strong today, but there's a lot of sadness but I don't know why TVA won't have anything to do with it it's so far from the water edge and all and I admit it's beautiful when you go down there and all, it's beautiful country, but still they need a way to get in there and all, they had a new dedication up there on the mountain recently with Dolly Parton and all, this place wasn't even mentioned, but yet they still own it and still want claim it, you know R-Yes it is 44000 acres S-Yes and they don't even want anybody to speak R-I guess the biggest thing, ifyou could sum up the last impression the government and TVA had on Swain County from the beginning to the end, what would it be and what would you really say? S-What would you think? C-Probably the people of Swain County probably are not very happy with the government and TV A because they did not fulfill the promise they made with the people of Swain and Graham Counties. Using George Monteith's phrase "They done us wrong", that sort of sums up my thoughts about the TV A and Government had, yes, they done us wrong. S-I could understand the TVA wanting their property, why with the Park Service involved in it too, they could have left the land 50, 75 or 100 feet above the water where they set them stobbs, you know, that land was still usable there, you know, people could still be living there, C-Paying tax dollars to Swain County, and what a lot of people don't understand yet now is TVA bought the land, they gave it to the Park and the Park Service was supposed to build the road so the Park Service is the one who have not fulfilled the promise to the TV A and the people and in my thinking, they don't really own the land, TV A gave it to them under conditions S-TV A should have a say in it "you build the road, you promised" C-Yea C-So actually the Park don't really own it in my way of thinking, I know they are both part of the government branches, some of them should have the say S-And why the Sierra Club has anything to do with it, I don't know, they don't come and do anything C-there's room for all, there would certainly be room for wilderness loving backpackers, healthy hikers and room for handicaps and old people and what the Park is supposed to be. Of course I 9 know what their pictures are of Gatlinburg Tennessee to be the "Gateway to the Smokies" and they have the Cades Cove and all this how people lived and we have this "wilderness" where nobody's been there or done any of that and that is so farce, just not so. R- Is there anything furthe~ either of you would like to say? S-No, we just wish they would honor their agreement C-Yes, S-Then the people could quit bellyaching C-Make a happy surrounding in Swain County S-Yes people could die happy C-Yes people are angry with each other because either side don't know what going on with the ~ other side and it has been a battle for years and years S-Yes years, I know the Commissioners would love not to have the North Shore people coming to their meetings C-Yes, I remember Jesse Helms, he tried so hard to get a settlement and he explained it at one of his meetings it said it at one ofthe environmentalist's meetings, "ifl came around and bought your property and I bought your home and so many years later I came along and paid your neighbor over here, for your property, now is this fair?" C-And the commissioners want the money and that does no justice for us people who are descendents from there and remember what a sad situation it was and how they done, and that is just not fair. S-Yea, they ought to all to down there to one of the decorations and see the people and how happy it makes them and some of the people who are older and they go visit a cemetery and just walking the road and there is so much happiness there. R-Ifit did come to the point of pretty much settlement or nothing, what would you guys like to see done with the money? S-We know what would happen to the money, don't we C-Really, I would like to have nothing, I think it's a shame and all the other counties not get nothing, I really don't think it's fair. S- And we wouldn't want to see it filter into the budget because we all know how that money gets spent, millions come up unaccounted for, certain ones always get the big contracts and direct that and spend this unwisely, I would rather not see a dime go to Swain County C-I can see that it would help the people, they might build a play ground somewhere or build a golf course somewhere but it would benefit a very few people S-Oh yea, R-Anything else S-No we could hash it out all day, but it wouldn't do any good R-So I just want to thank you, and thank you Mrs. Proctor, I appreciate it S-Your survey is from where? R-I am from Western and I chose this as my history project S-Have you ever been down there, you should go to one of the decorations R-I certainly would like to. END OF INTERVIEW 10

Christine Cole Proctor speaks about how her family and others were moved from their homes so that the Fontana Dam could be built. The dam, completed in 1945 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is built on the Little Tennessee River and is located near Fontana Village in Graham County, North Carolina. Cole also mentions the cemeteries that the TVA had intitially acquired from the community but had later neglected to maintain. James L. Sizemore, whose family owned approximately 1,000 acres on the north shore of Fontana Dam, discusses how the building of the dam and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park resulted in widespread displacement of people in Swain and Graham counties. Proctor and Sizemore also mention a road that was supposed to have been built by the Park authorities on land that had been acquired by the Park from the TVA.

• Creator
  • Proctor, Christine Cole
  • Sizemore, James L.
• Contributor
  • Atzenhoffer, T. Rhydon
• Format
  • Sound recordings
  • Interviews
• Type
  • Sound
• Date
  • Date interview: 2009-11-20
  • Date: 1900s (Decade); 1910s; 1920s; 1930s; 1940s;
  • Date digitized: 2014-12-04
• Extent
  • Duration: 00:55:52 (sound recording)
  • Duration: 10 pages (transcript)
• Subject - Topic
  • Autobiography
  • Cemeteries
  • Dams -- Economic aspects
  • Dams -- Social aspects
  • Events
  • Fontana Dam (N.C.)
  • Graham County (N.C.)
  • Proctor, Christine Cole
  • Sizemore, James L. -- Interviews
  • Swain County (N.C.) -- History
• Location
  • Swain County (N.C.)
  • Graham County (N.C.)
  • North Carolina, Western
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Oral History Collection - HIST 474/574
• Identifier
  • HL_HIST474_Atzenhoffer_Proctor_Sizemore_2009-11-20
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library