History of Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

You can see where the glaciers during the last ice age rounded out the razor-edges of the Appalachian Mountains. Because of their movement, flora and fauna were collected, streams and rivers flowed, and, after the glaciers passed, all of the mountain's ecology opened up and flourished. First humans, hunters and gatherers, are believed to have come from Asia, crossing the Bering Strait, 10,000 years ago, during the Paleolithic Era. What is known is, upon the arrival of Hernando de Soto and his explorers in 1540, the Cherokee Nation had an intricate society. Different villages had representation at a council, but only the whole tribe made decisions. Each tribe had two chiefs: a peace chief and war chief. This matriarchal society married their young between villages. Property was exchanged between clan alliances. In contact with white settlers, the Cherokees embraced trade, new technology, government, and created a written alphabet, consisting of eighty-six symbols based on syllables. There was even, at one point, a Cherokee newspaper. But it is well known that, being in contact with the new settlers, conflicts arose between the two and disease decimated the Indians. In 1835, Andrew Jackson signed the Treaty of New Echota with a few misrepresentative Indians, which robbed the Indians of the soil beneath their feet. The US military then forced the Cherokees to Oklahoma, a gross, unjust movement known as the "Trail of Tears". 16,000 Cherokee left and 12,000 made it, the 4,000 others killed by bandits and disease. Some Cherokees hid and resisted. Eventually, some Cherokees received land back, where now you can visit and learn about the histories of these fascinating peoples. Mostly Scot-Irish settled, farmed, hunted, and had a unique society in the Smoky Mountains. As technology advanced, such as with the steam locomotive, cutting timber and mining were threatening the land. An author by the name of Horace Kephart gathered support for its preservation. The settlers were compensated to leave, and some did so agreeably, raising millions of dollars for a national park, and others begrudgingly at their emotional loss. It was extremely difficult to surpass the settlers' desire to stay and the lumber and mining interests, in order to create a national park. But AAA and motorists wanted beautiful scenery to drive through, which sealed the deal. The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), a Depression-era agency, conserved the land and restored much of the old buildings. Franklin D. Roosevelt formally dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1940. As a national park, everything in it is preserved infinitely.