Chapter I: Front Matter

At Home In the Smokies ]

Handbook 125

At Home
In the Smokies

A History Handbook for
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
North Carolina and Tennessee

Produced by the
Division of Publications
National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C. 1984

_Using This Handbook_

This theme handbook, published in this new edition on the 50th anniversary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, tells the story of the people who settled and lived in the mountains along the Tennessee and North Carolina border. Part 1 gives a brief introduction to the park and its historical sites. In Part 2, Wilma Dykeman and Jim Stokely present the history of the region from the early Cherokee days to the establishment of the park in 1934 and the renewed interest in the past in the 1970s; this text was first published by the National Park Service in 1978. Part 3 gives a brief description of the major historical buildings you can see in the park. For general information about the park and its wildlife, see Handbook 112.

National Park Handbooks, compact introductions to the great natural and historic places administered by the National Park Service, are published to support the National Park Service’s management programs at the parks and to promote understanding and enjoyment of the parks. This is Handbook 125.

_Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data_

Main entry under title: At home in the Smokies. (National park handbook; 125)

Rev. ed. of: Highland homeland/Wilma Dykeman and Jim Stokely. 1978. Includes index.

Supt. of Docs, no.: I 29.9/5:125

1. Great Smoky Mountains (N.C. and Tenn.)--Social life and customs. 2. Great Smoky Mountains (N.C. and Tenn.)--History. 3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (N.C. and Tenn.)--Guide-books. 4. Cherokee Indians--History.

I. Dykeman, Wilma. Highland homeland. II. United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications. III. Series: Handbook (United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications); 125.

F443.G7A8 1984 976.8’89 84-600108

ISBN 0-912627-22-0

=Part 1= =Recapturing the Past= =4=
Smoky Mountain Heritage 7

=Part 2= =Highland Homeland= =12=
_By Wilma Dykeman and Jim Stokely_

Homecoming 17
_Rail Fences_ 30
Land of the Cherokees 35
The Pioneers Arrive 49
_Rifle Making_ 60
A Band of Cherokees Holds On 63
From Pioneer to Mountaineer 73
_Spinning and Weaving_ 94
The Sawmills Move In 97
Birth of a Park 107
The Past Becomes Present 121
_Handicrafts_ 132
Coming Home 137

=Part 3= =Guide and Adviser= =146=
Traveling in the Smokies 148
Oconaluftee 150
Cades Cove 152
Other Historic Sites in the Park 154
Related Nearby Sites 156
Armchair Explorations 157

Index 158