Great Smoky Mountains

The highest point in the Smokies is Clingmans Dome, the tallest mountain in Tennessee, which rises to an elevation of 6,643 feet (2,025 m).[7] It has the range's highest topographical prominence at 4,503 feet (1,373 m). Mount Le Conte is the tallest (i.e., from immediate base to summit) mountain in the range, rising 5,301 feet (1,616 m) from its base in Gatlinburg to its 6,593-foot (2,010 m) summit.[8]

The Smokies rise prominently above the surrounding low terrain. For example, Mount Le Conte (6,593 feet [2,010 m]) rises more than a mile (1.6 km) above its base. Because of their prominence, the Smokies receive a heavy annual amount of precipitation. Annual precipitation amounts range from 50 to 80 in (1,300 to 2,000 mm),[9] and snowfall in the winter can be heavy, especially on the higher slopes.[10] For comparison, the surrounding terrain has annual precipitation of around 40 to 50 in (1,000 to 1,300 mm). Flash flooding often occurs after heavy rain.[9]

In 2004, the remnants of Hurricane Frances caused major flooding, landslides, and high winds, which were soon followed by Hurricane Ivan, making the situation worse.[10] Other post-hurricanes, including Hurricane Hugo in 1989, have caused similar damage in the Smokies.

As for temperatures, the average temperature difference between the mountains (Newfound Gap around 5,000 feet (1,500 m) MSL and the valleys (Park Headquarters around 1,600 feet (490 m) MSL in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is between 10 and 13 °F (6 and 7 °C) with highs and between 3 and 6 °F (2 and 3 °C) with lows. The difference between high temperatures is similar to the moist adiabatic lapse rate (3.3 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 ft), while the smaller difference between low temperatures is the result of frequent temperature inversions developing in the morning, especially during autumn.[11]

Strong damaging winds (80 to 100 mph (130 to 160 km/h), or sometimes greater) are observed a few times each year around the Smoky Mountains during the cool season (October through April), as a result of a phenomenon known as mountain waves.[12] These mountain wave winds are strongest in a narrow area along the foothills, and can create extensive areas of fallen trees and roof damage, especially around Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Camp Creek community.[13] Strong winds created by mountain waves were a contributing factor with the devastating Gatlinburg fire on November 28, 2016 during the 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires.[14] Damaging winds can also be generated by strong thunderstorms, with tornadoes and strong thunderstorm complexes (also known as mesoscale convective systems) occasionally affecting the Smoky Mountains.[15]

The climate of Clingmans Dome is hemiboreal (Köppen Dfb, Trewartha Dcb[16]). As with much of the southern Blue Ridge, the area qualifies as part of the Appalachian Rainforest.[17] On the other hand, Gatlinburg's climate is four-season subtropical (Cfa) under Köppen (oceanic Do under Trewartha), typical of Tennessee.[17]

180-degree panoramic view of the Smokies

Cove hardwood forest along Cosby Creek

Cove hardwood forests, which are native to Southern Appalachia, are among the most diverse forest types in North America. The cove hardwood forests of the Smokies are mostly second-growth, although some 72,000 acres (290 km²) are still old-growth.[3] The Albright Grove along the Maddron Bald Trail (between Gatlinburg and Cosby) is an accessible old-growth forest with some of the oldest and tallest trees in the entire range.[25]

Over 130 species of trees are found among the canopies of the cove hardwood forests in the Smokies. The dominant species include yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), basswood (Tilia americana), yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava), tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera; commonly called "tulip poplar"), silverbells (Halesia carolina), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis).[26] The American chestnut (Castanea dentata), which was arguably the most beloved tree of the range's pre-park inhabitants, was killed off by the introduced Chestnut blight in the 1920s.

The understories of the cove hardwood forest contain dozens of species of shrubs and vines. Dominant species in the Smokies include the Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), Catawba rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), and smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens).[27]

The autumn colors of the northern hardwood canopy near Newfound Gap give way to the dark-green spruce-fir canopy as altitude increases

The mean annual temperatures in the higher elevations in the Smokies are cool enough to support forest types more commonly found in the northern United States. The northern hardwood forests of the Smokies constitute the highest broad-leaved forest in the eastern United States.[28] About 28,600 acres (116 km²) of the northern hardwood forest are old-growth.[3]

In the Smokies, the northern hardwood canopies are dominated by yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia). White basswood (Tilia heterophylla), mountain maple (Acer spicatum) and striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), and yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava) are also present. The northern hardwood understory is home to diverse species such as coneflower, skunk goldenrod, Rugels ragwort, bloodroot, hydrangea, and several species of grasses and ferns.[29]

One unique community in the northern hardwoods of the Smokies is the beech gap, or beech orchard. Beech gaps consist of high mountain gaps that have been monopolized by beech trees. The beech trees are often twisted and contorted by the high winds that occur in these gaps. Why other tree types such as the red spruce fail to encroach into the beech gaps is unknown.[30]

Spruce fir stand near the summit of Clingmans Dome

The spruce-fir forest—also called the "boreal" or "Canadian" forest—is a relict of the ice ages, when mean annual temperatures in the Smokies were too cold to support a hardwood forest. While the rise in temperatures between 12,500 and 6,000 years ago allowed the hardwoods to return, the spruce-fir forest has managed to survive on the harsh mountain tops, typically above 5,500 feet (1,700 m). About 10,600 acres (43 km²) of the spruce-fir forest are old-growth.[3]

The spruce-fir forest consists primarily of two conifer species—red spruce (Picea rubens) and Fraser fir (Abies fraseri). The Fraser Firs, which are native to Southern Appalachia, once dominated elevations above 6,200 feet (1,900 m) in the Great Smokies. Most of these firs were killed, however, by an infestation of the balsam wooly adelgid, which arrived in the Smokies in the early 1960s. Thus, red spruce is now the dominant species in the range's spruce-fir forest. Large stands of dead Fraser Firs remain atop Clingmans Dome and on the northwestern slopes of Old Black. While much of the red spruce stands in the Smokies were logged during World War I, the tree is still common throughout the range above 5,500 feet (1,700 m). Some of the red spruce trees in the Smokies are believed to be 300 years old, and the tallest rise to over 100 feet (30 m).[31]

The main difference between the spruce-fir forests of Southern Appalachia and the spruce-fir forests in northern latitudes is the dense broad-leaved understory of the former. The spruce-fir understories of the Smokies are home to catawba rhododendron, mountain ash, pin cherry, thornless blackberry, and hobblebush. The herbaceous and litter layers of the spruce-fir forests are poorly lit year-round, and are thus dominated by shade-tolerant plants such as ferns, namely mountain wood fern and northern lady fern, and over 280 species of mosses.[32]

Rhododendron atop the Ben Parton Lookout

Many wildflowers grow in mountains and valleys of the Great Smokies, including bee balm, Solomon's seal, Dutchman's breeches, various trilliums, the Dragon's Advocate and even hardy orchids. There are two native species of rhododendron in the area. The Catawba rhododendron has purple flowers in May and June, while the rosebay rhododendron has longer leaves and blooms white or a light pink in June and July.

The orange- to sometimes red-flowered and deciduous flame azalea closely follows along with the Catawbas. The closely related mountain laurel blooms in between the two, and all of the blooms progress from lower to higher elevations. The reverse is true in autumn, when nearly bare mountaintops covered in rime ice (frozen fog) can be separated from green valleys by very bright and varied leaf colors. The rhododendrons are broadleafs, whose leaves droop in order to shed wet and heavy snows that come through the region during winter.

Native Americans have likely been hunting in the Great Smoky Mountains for 14,000 years. Numerous Archaic period (c. 8000–1000 B.C.) artifacts have been found within the national park's boundaries, including projectile points uncovered along likely animal migration paths.[58] Woodland period (c. 1000 B.C. - 1000 A.D.) sites found within the park contained 2000+-year-old ceramics and evidence of primitive agriculture.[59]

The increasing reliance upon agriculture during the Mississippian period (c. 900–1600 A.D.) lured Native Americans away from the game-rich forests of the Smokies and into the fertile river valleys on the outer fringe of the range. Substantial Mississippian-period villages were uncovered at Citico and Toqua (named after the Cherokee villages that later thrived at these sites) along the Little Tennessee River in the 1960s.[60] Fortified Mississippian-period villages have been excavated at the McMahan Indian Mounds in Sevierville and more recently in Townsend.[61][62]

Most of these villages were part of a minor chiefdom centered on a large village known as Chiaha, which was located on an island now submerged by Douglas Lake. The 1540 expedition of Hernando de Soto and the 1567 expedition of Juan Pardo passed through the French Broad River valley north of the Smokies, both spending a considerable amount of time at Chiaha. The Pardo expedition followed a trail across the flanks of Chilhowee Mountain to the Mississippian-period villages at Chilhowee and Citico (Pardo's notary called them by their Muskogean names, "Chalahume" and "Satapo").[63]

By the time the first English explorers arrived in Southern Appalachia in the late 17th century, the Cherokee controlled much of the region, and the Great Smoky Mountains lay at the center of their territory. One Cherokee legend tells of a magical lake hidden deep within the range, but inaccessible to humans.[64] Another tells of a captured Shawnee medicine man named Aganunitsi who, in exchange for his freedom, travels to the remote sections of the range in search of the Uktena.[65] The Cherokee called Gregory Bald Tsitsuyi ᏥᏧᏱ, or "rabbit place," and believed the mountain to be the domain of the Great Rabbit.[66] Other Cherokee place names in the Smokies included Duniskwalgunyi ᏚᏂᏍᏆᎫᏂ, or "forked antlers", which referred to the Chimney Tops, and kuwahi ᎫᏩᎯ, or "mulberry place", which referred to Clingmans Dome.[67]

Most Cherokee settlements were located in the river valleys on the outer fringe of the Great Smokies range. The Smokies, along with the Unicois, provided the main bulwark dividing the Overhill Cherokee villages in modern Tennessee from the Cherokee Middle towns in modern North Carolina. The Overhill town of Chilhowee was situated at the confluence of Abrams Creek and the Little Tennessee, and the Overhill town of Tallassee was located just a few miles upstream near modern Calderwood (both village sites are now under Chilhowee Lake). A string of Overhill villages, including Chota and Tanasi, dotted the Little Tennessee valley north of Chilhowee.[68]

The Cherokee Middle towns included the village of Kittowa (which the Cherokee believed to be their oldest village) along the Tuckasegee River near Bryson City. The village of Oconaluftee, which was situated along the Oconaluftee River near the modern Oconaluftee Visitor Center, was the only known permanent Cherokee village located within the national park's boundaries. Sporadic or seasonal settlements were located in Cades Cove and the Hazel Creek valley.[69]

Communities past and present of the Great Smoky Mountains. The green areas denote the modern national park.

European explorers and settlers began arriving in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee in the mid-18th century. The influx of settlers at the end of the French and Indian War brought conflict with the Cherokee, who still held legal title to much of the land. When the Cherokee aligned themselves with the British at the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776, American forces launched an invasion of Cherokee territory.[70]

The Middle towns, including Kittuwa, were burned by General Griffith Rutherford, and several of the Overhill towns were burned by John Sevier. By 1805, the Cherokee had ceded control of the Great Smokies to the U.S. government. Although much of the tribe was forced west along the Trail of Tears in 1838, a few—largely through the efforts of William Holland Thomas—managed to retain their land on the Qualla Boundary and today comprise the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.[70]

In the 1780s, several frontier outposts had been established along the outskirts of the Smokies, namely Whitson's Fort in what is now Cosby and Wear's Fort in what is now Pigeon Forge. Permanent settlers began arriving in these areas in the 1790s. In 1801, the Whaley brothers, William and John, moved from North Carolina to become the first settlers in what is now the Greenbrier section of the park.[71]

In 1802, Edgefield, South Carolina resident William Ogle (1751–1803) arrived in White Oak Flats where he cut and prepared logs for cabin construction. Although Ogle died shortly after returning to Edgefield, his wife, Martha Jane Huskey, eventually returned with her family and several other families to White Oak Flats, becoming the first permanent settlers in what would eventually become Gatlinburg. Their children and grandchildren spread out southward into the Sugarlands and Roaring Fork areas.[72]

Cades Cove was settled largely by families who had purchased lots from land speculator William "Fighting Billy" Tipton. The first of these settlers, John and Lucretia Oliver, arrived in 1818.[73] Two Cades Cove settlers, Moses and Patience Proctor, crossed over to the North Carolina side of the Smokies in 1836 to become the first Euro-American settlers in the Hazel Creek area.[74] The Cataloochee area was first settled by the Caldwell family, who migrated to the valley in 1834.[75]

Like most of Southern Appalachia, the early 19th-century economy of the Smokies relied on subsistence agriculture. The average farm consisted of roughly 50 acres (0.20 km²), part of which was cultivated and part of which was woodland. Early settlers lived in 16 feet (4.9 m) x 20 feet (6.1 m) log cabins, although these were replaced by more elaborate log houses and eventually, as lumber became available, by modern frame houses. Most farms included at least one barn, a springhouse (used for refrigeration), a smokehouse (used for curing meat), a chicken coop (protected chickens from predators), and a corn crib (kept corn dry and protected it from rodents). Some of the more industrious farmers operated gristmills, general stores, and sorghum presses.[76] Religion was a central theme in the lives of the early residents of the Smokies, and community life was typically centered on churches. Christian Protestantism—especially Primitive Baptists, Missionary Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians; dominated the religious culture of the region.

While both Tennessee and North Carolina joined the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Union sentiment in the Great Smoky Mountains was much stronger relative to other regions in these two states. Generally, the communities on the Tennessee side of the Smokies supported the Union, while communities on the North Carolina side supported the Confederates. On the Tennessee side, 74% of Cocke Countians, 80% of Blount Countians, and 96% of Sevier Countians voted against secession.[77] In the North Carolina Smokies—Cherokee, Haywood, Jackson, and Macon counties—about 46% of the population favored secession.[78]

While no major engagements took place in the Smokies, minor skirmishes were fairly common. Cherokee chief William Holland Thomas formed a Confederate legion made up mostly of Cherokee soldiers. Thomas' Legion crossed the Smokies in 1862 and occupied Gatlinburg for several months to protect saltpeter mines atop Mount Le Conte. Residents of predominantly Union Cades Cove and predominantly Confederate Hazel Creek routinely crossed the mountains to steal one another's livestock.[79] Residents of Cosby and Cataloochee did likewise. One notable Civil War incident in the Smokies was the murder of long-time Cades Cove resident Russell Gregory (for whom Gregory Bald is named), which was carried out by bushwhackers in 1864 shortly after Gregory had led an ambush that routed a band of Confederates seeking to wreak havoc in the cove.[80] Another incident was George Kirk's raid on Cataloochee, in which Kirk killed or wounded 15 Union soldiers recovering at a makeshift hospital.[81]

The Champion Fibre Company plant in Canton, North Carolina, 1910

While selective logging occurred in the Great Smoky Mountains throughout the 19th century, the general inaccessibility of the range's forests prevented major logging operations, and lumber firms relied on the lowland forests in the northeastern United States and the Mississippi Delta in the southeast. As timber resources in these regions became exhausted, and as the demand for lumber skyrocketed after the Civil War, entrepreneurs began looking for ways to reach the virgin forests of Southern Appalachia. The first logging operations in the Smokies, which began in the 1880s, used splash dams or booms to float logs down rivers to lumber mills in nearby cities. Notable splash dam and boom operations included the English Lumber Company on Little River, the Taylor and Crate operations along Hazel Creek, and the ambitious operations of Alexander Arthur on the Pigeon River. All three of these operations failed within their first few years, however, after their dams and boom systems were destroyed by floods.[82][83][84]

Innovations in logging railroads and band saw technology in the late 19th century made large-scale logging possible in the mountainous areas of Southern Appalachia. The largest logging operation in the Smokies was the Little River Lumber Company, which logged the Little River watershed between 1901 and 1939. The company also established company towns at Townsend (named for the company's chief owner and manager, Wilson B. Townsend), Elkmont, and Tremont.[85]

The second-largest operation was the Ritter Lumber Company, which logged the Hazel Creek watershed between 1907 and 1928. Ruins of Ritter's lumbering operations are still visible along the Hazel Creek Trail.[86] Other lumbering operations included Three M Lumber and Champion Fibre, both of which logged the Oconaluftee watershed.[87] By the time all operations ceased in the 1930s, logging firms had removed two-thirds of the virgin forests of the Smokies. According to the National Park Service, 80% of the Smokies was clear cut in the 1900's.[88]

Wilson B. Townsend, the head of Little River Lumber, began advertising Elkmont as a tourist destination in 1909. Within a few years, the Wonderland Hotel and the Appalachian Club had been established to cater to elite Knoxvillians seeking summer mountain getaways.[89] In the early 1920s, several Appalachian Club members, among them Knoxville businessman Colonel David Chapman, began seriously considering a movement to establish a national park in the Great Smokies. As head of the Great Smoky Mountains Park Commission, Chapman was largely responsible for raising funds for land purchases and coordinating park efforts between local, state, and federal entities.[90]

The creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park proved much more complex than the creation of its predecessors, such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, which were already federally owned. Along with convincing logging firms to sell lucrative lumber rights, the Park Commission had to negotiate the purchase of thousands of small farms and remove entire communities. The commission also had to deal with the Tennessee and North Carolina legislatures, which at times were opposed to spending taxpayer money on park efforts.[91] In spite of these difficulties, the Park Commission had completed most major land purchases by 1932. The national park officially opened in 1934, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt presiding over the opening ceremony at Newfound Gap.