Letters From The Alleghany Mountains - free ebook by Charles Lanman

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Letters From The Alleghany Mountains

Charles Lanman

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LETTERS FROM THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.

LETTERS FROM THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.

BY CHARLES LANMAN, AUTHOR OF “A TOUR TO THE RIVER SAGUENAY,” “A SUMMER IN THE WILDERNESS,” AND “ESSAYS FOR SUMMER HOURS.” NEW-YORK: GEO. P. PUTNAM, 155 BROADWAY. 1849. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by GEO. P. PUTNAM, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York. TO JOSEPH GALES, ESQ., Mr Dear Sir ,— I have two reasons for embellishing this little volume with your distinguished and honored name. In the first plac

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LETTER I.

LETTER I.

Dahlonega, Georgia , April, 1848. The Cherokee word Dah-lon-e-ga signifies the place of yellow metal ; and is now applied to a small hamlet at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains, in Lumpkin county, Georgia, which is reputed to be the wealthiest gold region in the United States. It is recorded of De Soto and his followers that, in the sixteenth century, they explored this entire Southern country in search of gold, and unquestionable evidences of their work have been discovered in various section

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LETTER II.

LETTER II.

Logan’s Plantation, Georgia , April, 1848. During my stay at Dahlonega I heard a good deal said about a native wonder, called “Track Rock,” which was reported to be some thirty miles off, on the northwestern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On revolving the information in my mind, I concluded that this rock was identical with one which had been mentioned to me by Professor James Jackson , of the University of Georgia, and I also remembered that the Professor had shown me a specimen of the rock

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Mount Yonah—Vale of Nacoochee.

Mount Yonah—Vale of Nacoochee.

Before me, as I stand, his broad, round head Mount Yohah lifts the neighboring hills above, While, at his foot, all pleasantly is spread Nacoochee’s vale, sweet as a dream of love. Cradle of Peace! mild, gentle as the dove Whose tender accents from yon woodlands swell, Must she have been who thus has interwove Her name with thee, and thy soft, holy spell, And all of peace which on this troubled globe may dwell! And all of peace which on this troubled globe may dwell! Nacoochee —in tradition, thy

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LETTER IV.

LETTER IV.

Clarksville, Georgia , April, 1848. The little village where I am now staying is decidedly the most interesting in the northern part of Georgia. There is nothing particularly fine about its buildings, and it only contains some three hundred inhabitants, but it commands a magnificent prospect of two ranges of the Alleghany Mountains. It is remarkable for the healthfulness of its climate, and is the summer resort of between forty and fifty of the most wealthy and accomplished families of Georgia a

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Tallulah.

Tallulah.

But hark! beneath yon hoary precipice, The rush of mightier waters, as they pour In foaming torrents through the dark abyss Which echoes back the thunders of their roar. Approach the frightful gorge! and gazing o’er, What mad emotions through their bosoms thrill! Hast ever seen so dread a sight before? Tallulah! by that name we hail thee still, And own that thou art rightly called THE TERRIBLE ! In vain o’er thee shall glow with wild delight, The painter’s eye, and voiceless still shall be The p

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LETTER VI.

LETTER VI.

Tallulah Falls, Georgia , April, 1848. The subject of my present letter is Adam Vandever , “the Hunter of Tallulah.” His fame reached my ears soon after arriving at this place, and, having obtained a guide, I paid him a visit at his residence, which is planted directly at the mouth of the Tallulah chasm. He lives in a log-cabin, occupying the centre of a small valley, through which the Tallulah river winds its wayward course. It is completely hemmed in on all sides by wild and abrupt mountains,

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LETTER VII.

LETTER VII.

Trail Mountain, Georgia , May, 1848. I now write from near the summit of the highest mountain in Georgia. I obtained my first view of this peak while in the village of Clarksville, and it presented such a commanding appearance, that I resolved to surmount it, on my way to the North, although my experience has proven that climbing high mountains is always more laborious than profitable. I came here on the back of a mule, and my guide and companion on the occasion was the principal proprietor of N

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LETTER VIII.

LETTER VIII.

Murphy, North Carolina , May, 1848. The distance from Hubbard’s Cabin, on Trail Mountain, to the Owassa river, in a direct line, is eight miles, but by the ordinary mule-route it is thirteen. In coming to this river I took the direct route, albeit my only guide was an ancient Indian trail. My friend Hubbard doubted whether I could make the trip alone, but I was anxious to save time and labor, so I determined on trying the experiment. I shouldered my knapsack and started immediately after an earl

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LETTER IX.

LETTER IX.

Franklin, North Carolina , May, 1848. The distance from Murphy to this place is reported to be fifty miles. For twenty miles the road runs in full view of Valley river, which is worthy in every particular of the stream into which it empties, the Owassa. It is a remarkbly cold and translucent stream, and looks as if it ought to contain trout, but I am certain that it does not. On inquiring of a homespun angler what fish the river did produce, he replied: “Salmon, black trout, red horse, hog-fish,

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LETTER X.

LETTER X.

Franklin, North Carolina , May, 1848. The little village of Franklin is romantically situated on the Little Tennessee. It is surrounded with mountains, and as quiet and pretty a hamlet as I have yet seen among the Alleghanies. On the morning after entering this place, I went to the post office, for the purpose of obtaining a peep at the last number of the National Intelligencer, whereupon the officiating gentleman informed me that I should find it at the office of a young lawyer whom he named. I

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LETTER XI.

LETTER XI.

Qualla Town, North Carolina , May, 1848. In coming from Franklin to this place, a distance of thirty miles, I travelled over a wild, mountainous, and thinly settled country, where I was pained to witness the evil effects of intemperance, and made happy by following the windings of a beautiful river. Having been overtaken by a thunder-storm, I found shelter in a rude and comfortless cabin, which was occupied by a man and his wife and eight children. Every member of the family was barefooted, and

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LETTER XII.

LETTER XII.

Qualla Town, North Carolina , May, 1848. Qualla Town is a name applied to a tract of seventy-two thousand acres of land, in Haywood county, which is occupied by about eight hundred Cherokee Indians and one hundred Catawbas. Their district is mountainous from one extremity to the other, and watered by a number of beautiful streams, which abound in fish; the valleys and slopes are quite fertile, and the lower mountains are well adapted to grazing, and at the same time are heavily timbered and supp

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LETTER XIII.

LETTER XIII.

Qualla Town, North Carolina , May, 1848. The plan adopted for the civilization of the Carolina Cherokees differs materially from any others adopted in the United States. Their amusements are not interfered with, excepting when found to have an immoral or unhappy tendency. A goodly number of their more ridiculous games, however, they have abandoned of their own accord, but the manly game of ball-playing is still practised after the ancient manner, with one or two restrictions. In the first place,

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LETTER XIV.

LETTER XIV.

Qualla Town, North Carolina , May, 1848. In the present letter I purpose to give you a brief historical account of certain celebrated Cherokee Indians, who are deservedly considered as among the bright particular stars of their nation. Some of them are dead, and some still living, but they were all born in this mountain land, and it is meet that I should award to each a “passing paragraph of praise.” The first individual that I would mention is Yo-na-gus-ka, or the Drowning Bear . He was the pri

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LETTER XV.

LETTER XV.

Ashville, North Carolina , May, 1848. The distance from Qualla Town to this place is sixty miles. The first half of the route is exceedingly mountainous and almost entirely uncultivated, but the valley of Pigeon river, down which you have to travel for a considerable distance, is very fertile and well cultivated. A pastoral charm seems to rest upon the scenery, and in this particular forcibly reminded me of the upper valley of the Mohawk. I occupied the most of two days in performing this trip,

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LETTER XVI.

LETTER XVI.

Ashville, North Carolina , May, 1848. I have just returned from an excursion down the French Broad River to Patton’s Warm Springs , and the neighboring curiosities, and I now purpose to describe the “wonders I have seen.” The original Indian name of the French Broad was Pse-li-co , the meaning of which I have not been able to ascertain. Its English name was derived from a famous hunter named French . It is one of the principal tributaries of the Tennessee, about one hundred miles long, from one

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LETTER XVII.

LETTER XVII.

Ashville, North Carolina , May, 1848. Twenty-five miles from this place, in a northerly direction, stands Black Mountain , which is the gloomy looking patriarch of the Alleghanies, and claimed to be the most elevated point of land eastward of the Mississippi. It is nearly seven thousand feet high, and, with its numerous pinnacles, covers an area of territory which must measure in length a distance of at least twenty miles. Unlike its fellows in this Southern land, it is covered with a dense fore

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LETTER XVIII.

LETTER XVIII.

North Cove, North Carolina , June, 1848. I now write from a log cabin situated on the Catawba river, and in one of the most beautiful of valleys. My ride from Ashville to Burnsville, a distance of over forty miles, was unattended by a single interesting incident, and afforded only one mountain prospect that caused me to rein in my horse. But the prospect alluded to embraced the entire outline of Bald Mountain, which, being one of the loftiest in this section of country, and particularly barren,

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LETTER XIX.

LETTER XIX.

Elizabethton, Tennessee , June, 1848. The prominent circumstance attending my journey from the North Cove to this place was, that it brought me out of the great mountain wilderness of Georgia and North Carolina into a well-cultivated and more level country. For two months past have I spent my days on horseback, and the majority of my nights in the rudest of cabins; and as I am now to continue my journey in a stagecoach, it is meet that I should indite a general letter, descriptive of the region

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LETTER XX.

LETTER XX.

The Nameless Valley, Virginia , June, 1848. Since my last letter was written, my course of travel has led me towards the fountain-head of the Holston river, whose broad and highly cultivated valley is bounded on the northwest by the Clinch Mountains, and on the southeast by the Iron Mountains. The agricultural and mineral advantages of this valley are manifold, and the towns and farms scattered along the stage-road all present a thriving and agreeable appearance. Along the bed of the Holston aga

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LETTER XXI.

LETTER XXI.

Harper’s Ferry , June, 1848. Since the date of my last letter, I have been travelling through a very beautiful but thickly-settled portion of the Alleghany country, whose natural curiosities are as familiar to the world as a thrice-told tale. For this reason, therefore, I shall be exceedingly brief in describing what I have seen in the Valley of Virginia. That portion of the “Ancient Dominion” known by the above name is about two hundred miles long, ranging in width from thirty to forty miles. I

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ADDENDA.

ADDENDA.

[The following highly interesting and valuable communications, are reprinted in this place by permission of the several writers, and for the purpose of concluding my little volume with an appropriate climax. The first was addressed to the Editors of the National Intelligencer , and published in that journal subsequently to the appearance of my “Letters from the Alleghany Mountains.” The second was addressed to J. S. Skinner, Esq., but also published in the Intelligencer; and the third, introduci

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To the Editors of the National Intelligencer.

To the Editors of the National Intelligencer.

Ashville, North Carolina , October, 1848. Gentlemen : As you have recently been publishing a series of letters in relation to that portion of the Alleghany range which is situated in North Carolina, you may, perhaps, find matter of interest in the subject of this communication. My purpose in making it is not only to present to the consideration of those learned or curious in geology facts singular and interesting in themselves, but also, by means of your widely disseminated paper, to stimulate a

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To J. S. Skinner, Esq.

To J. S. Skinner, Esq.

House of Representatives , Feb. 3, 1844. Dear Sir : Your favor of the 30th ultimo was received a day or two since, and I now avail myself of the very first opportunity to answer it. I do so most cheerfully, because, in the first place, I am happy to have it in my power to gratify in any manner one who has done so much as yourself to diffuse correct information on subjects most important to the agriculture of the country; and, secondly, because I feel a deep interest in the subject to which your

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To the Editor of the Highland Messenger.

To the Editor of the Highland Messenger.

You published a few weeks since an extract from an article in Silliman’s Journal, contributed by Prof. Shepard, in which he described a diamond sent him from this region a few months since. As that extract excited some interest in the minds of a number of my friends who are engaged in the mining business, I inclose you a letter from Prof. Shepard, the publication of which I am sure would be acceptable to many of your readers. I may remark in explanation, that within the last few years I have sen

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To Hon. T. L. Clingman, but originally published in the New-York Albion.

To Hon. T. L. Clingman, but originally published in the New-York Albion.

My Dear Sir ,—I promised my friends in the Western counties that they should hear from me through the Highland Messenger, and to the editor of that paper that he should receive one or two communications. As the person who undertakes to inform the public on subjects not strictly in the line of his profession is likely to fall into some errors, and to say some things which will not be thought very wise, I have wished that what I have to offer, might, before going to press, pass under the eye of on

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Travels, Adventures, and Discoveries. IN THE EAST.

Travels, Adventures, and Discoveries. IN THE EAST.

With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldæan Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or Devil-Worshhippers; and an Inquiry into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians. BY AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD, ESQ., D.C.L. With Introductory Note by Prof. E. Robinson , D. D., LL. D. Illustrated with 13 Plates and Maps, and 90 Woodcuts. 2 vols. 8vo. Cloth. $4 50. “We cannot doubt it will find its way into the hands of scholars and thinkers at once, and we shall be surprised if it does not prove to be one of

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In South America.

In South America.

BY DR. J. J. VON TSCHUDI. 1 vol. 12mo, cloth, $1 00. “Braving the dangers of a land where throat-cutting is a popular pastime, and earthquakes and fevers more or less yellow, and vermin more or less venomous are amongst the indigenous comforts of the soil, a German, of high reputation as a naturalist and man of letters, has devoted four years of a life valuable to science to a residence and travels in the most interesting districts of South America, the ancient empire of the Incas, the scene of

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Travels, Adventures, and Discoveries. IN THE WEST.

Travels, Adventures, and Discoveries. IN THE WEST.

Being Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life. BY FRANCIS PARKMAN, JR. With Illustrations by Darley. 12 mo. cloth, $1 25. “Written with the genuine inspiration of untamed nature.”— Tribune. “A lively and well written account of divers adventures on mountains and plains, deserts and rivers in the Indian Country.”— Churchman. “A series of graphic and apparently reliable sketches.”— Albion. “Agreeably designed and ably executed.”— Home Journal. “One of the few books from which we can obtain any

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Travels, Adventures, &c.—Europe.

Travels, Adventures, &c.—Europe.

Being Sketches of Italian Life, Literature, and Religion. BY REV. ROBERT TURNBULL, Author of “The Genius of Scotland.” 1 vol. 12mo, with two engravings. $1 25. The edition with extra illustrations, handsomely bound, will be ready in the autumn. “Mr. Turnbull gives us the orange groves, and the fountains, and the gondolas, and the frescoes and the ruins, with touches of personal adventure, and sketches of biography, and glimpses of the life, literature, and religion of Modern Italy, seen with the

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History—Biography—Geography.

History—Biography—Geography.

To which are added those of his Companions. BY WASHINGTON IRVING. New Edition, Revised and Corrected. Maps, Plates, and copious Index. 3 vols. 12mo, green cloth uniform with the new edition of Irving’s Works, $4; half calf, $6; half morocco, top edge gilt, $6 75; full calf, gilt, $7 50. The Octavo Edition , in 3 vols., on superfine paper, uniform with Prescott’s Ferdinand and Isabella, $6; half calf, $8 50; full calf, $10. “One of the most fascinating and intensely interesting books in the whole

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Washington Irvings’s Works.

Washington Irvings’s Works.

AUTHOR’S REVISED EDITION. Elegantly printed in 15 vols. (including new works) and neatly bound in dark cloth. * Those marked thus are not yet ready, June, 1849. ⁂ Either volume, or complete sets may also be had substantially bound in half calf, 75 cts. extra; half morocco $1 extra; full calf, $1 25 extra. NOTICES OF THE NEW EDITION OF IRVING. “The typography of this series is all that could be desired. Nothing superior to it has issued from the American press. Irving will be among American class

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Belles Letters—New Works. 1849-50. Fenimore Cooper’s Early Works. THE AUTHOR’S REVISED EDITION.

Belles Letters—New Works. 1849-50. Fenimore Cooper’s Early Works. THE AUTHOR’S REVISED EDITION.

New Edition. Revised, &amp;c., with Introduction and Notes, handsomely printed, uniform with the Sketch-Book, &amp;c. 12mo, cloth, $1 25. 12mo. $1 25. In September. To be followed by other vols. at intervals. MR. COOPER’S NEW WORK. 12mo, uniform with “The Spy.” In press. “The public will cordially welcome a new and complete edition of this author’s admirable tales, revised, corrected, and illustrated with notes by himself. This is No. 1 of the new series, and is got up in the style of Ir

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Miss Sedgwick.

Miss Sedgwick.

The Author’s Revised Edition; complete in one vol. Uniform with Irving’s Works. In August. The Author’s Revised Edition; complete in one vol. In September. Complete in one vol. In October. EXTRAORDINARY AND ROMANTIC ADVENTURES. “Kaloolah will be THE book.” An Autobiography of Jona. Romer . EDITED BY W. S. MAYO, M. D. Illustrations by Darley, beautifully engraved and printed in tint, 12mo, cloth, $1 50. “The most singular and captivating narrative since Robinson Crusoe.”— Home Journal. “‘Kaloolah

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Choice Illustrated Books.

Choice Illustrated Books.

The Illustrated Knickerbocker; The History of New-York , From the Beginning of the World to the end of the Dutch Dynasty: containing, among many surprising and curious matters, the Unutterable Ponderings of Walter the Doubter; the Disastrous Projects of William the Testy, and the Chivalric Achievements of Peter the Headstrong—the Three Dutch Governors of New-Amsterdam: Being the only authentic History of the Times that ever hath been or ever will be published. BY DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER. Illustra

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Belles Lettres.

Belles Lettres.

Selections from the Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. By Charles D. Deshler . 1 vol., 12mo, green cloth, 63 cts. Selections from the Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. By Charles D. Deshler . Spenser, and the Faery Queen. By Mrs. C. M. Kirkland . 1 vol., 12mo, cloth, $1 25. “A mine of wealth and enjoyment, a golden treasury of exquisite models, of graceful fancies, of fine inventions, and of beautiful diction.”— Cincinnati Herald. Undine, a Tale; and Sintram and his Companions, a Tale. From t

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