CONTENTS.
| [INTRODUCTION]. | |
|---|---|
| The Culmination of the Alleghanies—Area—The Grand Portal—The Blue Ridge—TheSmokies—Transverse Ranges of the Central Plateau—Ancient Mountains | [7] |
| [THE NATIVE MOUNTAINEERS]. | |
| The “Moon-eyed” People—Ottari and Erati—Musical Names—Legendary Superstitions—TheDevil’s Footprints—His Judgment Seat—A Sacred Domain—Cherokee’sParadise Gained—Aboriginal Geography—Sevier’s Expedition—Decline of theTribe—Younaguska—A White Chief—The Qualla Boundary—A Ride Through theReservation—Yellow Hill—Constitution and Faith of the Band—Characteristics—AnIndian Maiden—Soco Scenery | [15] |
| [IN THE HAUNTS OF THE BLACK BEAR]. | |
| Bruin’s “Usin’-Places”—Pointers—A Hunting Party—Stately Forests—Wid Medford—Stickinga Bear—Trials of Camping-Out—A Picture—Frosted Mountains—Amidthe Firs—Natural History—In Close Quarters—Scenic Features—The DriveBegins—An Ebon Mountain—Judyculla Old Field—Calling In the Drivers—ASnow Storm—The Vale of Pigeon—A Picturesque Party—Through Laurel Thickets—AtBay—The Death Shot—Sam’s Knob—Bear Traps—An Old Hunter’s Observation | [45] |
| [THE VALLEY OF THE NOON-DAY SUN]. | |
| The Nantihala—Woodland Scenes—Monday’s—Franklin—Evening on the LittleTennessee—The Alleghanies’ Grandest Highway—The Valley River Range—LonelyWilds—The Prince of Sluggards—Murphy—A Swiss Landscape—An AnimatedGuide-post—At the “Hoe-Down”—Apprehensions of Harm—A Jug in MyHands—Pine Torches—The Shooting Match—“Hoss-Swoppers”—DiscouragingComments—The Fawning Politician—Cat-Stairs—The Anderson Roughs—Campbell’sCabin—No Wash-Basin—The Devil’s Chin—Soapstone and Marble Quarries—AStinging Reception—Deer—A “Corn-cracker”—Robbinsville | [79] |
| [WITH ROD AND LINE]. | |
| The Tow-head Angler—The Brook Trout—Points—The Paragon Month for Fishing—ArtificialPonds—Trip to the Toe—Anti-Liquor—Rattlesnakes—Mitchell’s Peak—AGhost Story—In Weird Out-lines—Burnsville—Pigeon River—Cataluche—MountStarling and its Black Brothers—Whipping the Stream—Striking a Bargain—AnUrchin’s Ideas—Swain County Trout Streams—In Jackson and Macon—AGrand Cataract—Trout, Buck and Panther—In the Northwest Counties | [107] |
| [AFTER THE ANTLERS]. | |
| The Heart of the Smokies—Clingman’s Dome—Prospect from the Summit—MountedSportsmen—A Mountain Bug-Bear—Charleston—The Dungeon—A Village Storekeeper—BeautifulRiver Bends—At the Roses’—A Typical Mountain Cabin—Quil’sWolf story—A Quick Toilet—The Footprints of Autumn—Knowledge from Experience—TheRidge Stand—Buck Ague—On Long Rock—A Superb Shot—TheBuck Vanishes—Acquitted Through Superstition—The Hunter’s Hearthstone | [137] |
| [NATURAL RESOURCES]. | |
| The “Tar-Heel” Joke—Tobacco—Favorable Conditions for Gold Leaf—A RuinousPolicy—Hickory—Shelby—In Piedmont—Old Field Land—General Clingman’sStory—Watauga County—Unequalled Pastures—Prices of Lands—Stock Raising—TheFrench Broad Tobacco Slopes—Fair Figures—Henderson and Transylvania—ThePigeon Valley—The Extreme Southwest Portion—Character of Wild Range—Horticulture—TheThermal Zone—Forests for Manufacturers—The Gold Zone—MicaMines—Corundum—Iron Deposits—The Cranberry Ore Bank—Copper,Lead, Tin, and Silver—Precious Stones | [167] |
| [HISTORICAL RESUME]. | |
| Early Emigration—Daniel Boone—The “Pennsylvania Dutch”—Conservatism—TheRevolutionary Forces—The King’s Mountain Battle—“Nollichucky Jack”—ThePrisoner’s Escape—The State of Franklin—The Pioneers—Formation ofCounties—The Western North Carolina Railroad—During the Late War—RestlessMountains—Scientific Explorations—Calhoun’s Observation—The Tragedy of theBlack Mountains—Later Surveys—Representatives of the Mountain People | [213] |
| [IN THE SADDLE]. | |
| Mounting in Asheville—A Surly Host—Bat Cave—Titanic Stone Cliffs—ChimneyRock Hotel—The Pools—A Sunset Scene—The Shaking Bald—The Spectre CavalryFight—A Twilight Gallop Through McDowell County—Pleasant Gardens—TheCatawba Valleys—On the Linville Range—Table Rock and Hawk-Bill—TheCanon—Innocents Abroad—The Fox and the Pheasant—Linville Falls—A DismalWoodland—Traveling Families—Grandfather Mountain—The Ascent—A SundayRide—Blowing Rock—Boone—Valle Crucis—Elk River—The Cranberry Mines—Onthe Roan—Cloud-Land Hotel—A Hermit’s History—Above a Thunder Storm—Bakersville—Tracesof a Prehistoric People—The Sink-Hole and Ray MicaMines—Cremation—Drawing Rein | [237] |
| [BEYOND IRON WAYS]. | |
| Stage Riding—The Driver’s Story—Waynesville—Court Week—Prescriptions forSpirit. Frument.—Before the Bar—An Out-Door Jury Room—White SulphurSprings—A Night’s Entertainment—The Haunted Cabin—A Panther Hunt—ThePhantom Millers—Light on the Mysteries—Micadale—Recollections—Soco Falls—Webster—AnArtist’s Trials—Above the Tuckasege Cataract—Hamburg—ACordial Invitation—Cashier’s Valley—Whiteside—A Coffee Toper—HorseCove—Golden Sands—Ravenel’s Magnificent Site—Hints for the Mounted Tourist—TheMacon Highlands—A Demon of the Abyss—A Region of Cascades andCataracts—Through Rabun Gap—Clayton, Georgia—The Falls of Tallulah—AnIron Way | [279] |
| [A ZIGZAG TOUR]. | |
| The Mountains as a Summer Resort—On the Western North Carolina Railroad—SparklingCatawba Springs—Glen Alpine—Marion—Asheville—Romantic Drives—Turnpike—ArdenPark—Hendersonville—Flat Rock—The Ante-War Period—Cæsar’sHead—Brevard—A “Moonshine” Expedition—A Narrow Escape—HowIllicit Whisky is Sold—Along the French Broad—An Excited Countryman—Marshal—WarmSprings—Shut-in Gap—Paint Rock—A Picture of the Sublime | [333] |
| Tables of Altitude, Population, Area of counties, and Temperature | [371] |
ILLUSTRATIONS.
| PAGE | ||
| [1.] | Valley of the Noon-day Sun | [Frontispiece.] |
| [2.] | Unaka Kanoos | [13] |
| [3.] | A Soco Lass | [37] |
| [4.] | Mount Pisgah | [43] |
| [5.] | The Final Struggle | [74] |
| [6.] | The Warrior Bald | [82] |
| [7.] | A Narrow Water-way | [102] |
| [8.] | A Glimpse of the Toe | [119] |
| [9.] | On the Cataluche | [128] |
| [10.] | Ochlawaha Valley from Dun Cragin | [135] |
| [11.] | On the Little Tennessee | [145] |
| [12.] | Silver Springs | [173] |
| [13.] | The French Broad Canon | [182] |
| [14.] | Swannanoa Hotel | [211] |
| [15.] | Sparkling Catawba Springs | [235] |
| [16.] | The Watauga Falls | [266] |
| [17.] | Macon Highlands | [293] |
| [18.] | The Junaluskas | [316] |
| [19.] | The Cullasaja Falls | [329] |
| [20.] | Up the Blue Ridge | [338] |
| [21.] | Bold Headlands | [354] |
| [22.] | Cascades of Spring Creek | [369] |
| ——— | ||
| [Dr. W. C. Kerr’s Map of Western North Carolina] (used by permission of State Board of Agriculture). | ||
INTRODUCTION.
Oh, holy melody of peace!
Oh, nature in thy grandest mood!
I love thee most where ways are rude
Of men, and wild the landscape’s face.
HE great mountain system that begins in that part of Canada south of the St. Lawrence, and under the name of the Alleghanies, or Appalachians, extends southward for 1,300 miles, dying out in the Georgia and Alabama foot-hills, attains its culmination in North Carolina. The title of Appalachians, as applied by De Soto to the whole system, is preferred by many geographers. Alleghany is the old Indian word, signifying “endless.” It is ancient in its origin, and in spite of its being anglicized still retains its soft, liquid sound. It was not until a comparatively late year that Western North Carolina was discovered to be the culminating region. Until 1835 the mountains of New Hampshire were considered the loftiest of the Alleghanies, and Mount Washington was placed on the maps and mentioned in text books as the highest point of rock in the eastern United States. It now holds its true position below several summits of the Black, Smoky, and Balsam ranges. From the barometrical measurements of trustworthy explorers, no less than 57 peaks in Western North Carolina are found to be over 6,000 feet in altitude. The more accurate observations being taken by means of levels, by the coast survey, may slightly reduce this number.