USA > North Carolina > Western North Carolina; a history, 1730-1913 > Part 48
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A MYSTERIOUS FLORAL SISTERHOOD. In the "Carolina Mountains" (ch. VI) we are told that in the Himalayas and the mountains of the Far East are found the flame-colored azalea, the silver-bell tree, the fringe bush, the wisteria, and ginseng, which are found nowhere else except in our own Appalachians. What bond, the author asks, tore these tender flowers asunder, separating them by continents and vast seas? We are also told that the Rhododendron Vaseyii, which, unlike the other rho-
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FLORA AND FAUNA
dodendrons, sheds its leaves in the fall, was supposed to have become extinct (p. 59) but that it is still found on the north side of the Grandfather mountain. We learn also that Shortia was named for Prof. Short of Kentucky, and was rediscovered on the Horse Shoe Pasture river a few miles south of Lake Toxaway, "literally coloring acres of the earth with its charm- ing flowers" (p. 275).
BOTANY AND BOTANISTS. The abundance, variety and beauty of the wild flowers, bushes and shrubs attracted the attention of botanists at an early date. William Bertram of Philadelphia was in the Cherokee country in 1776. ? Andrew Michaux was sent to this country by the French government to collect seeds, shrubs and trees for the royal gardens in 1785, and, on the 30th of August, 1794, reached the summit of the Grandfather, "the highest in all North America, " he declared; "and with my companion and guide sang the hymn of the Marseillaise." 3 The following year Michaux explored the mountains of Burke and Yancey, carrying away in the fall 2,500 specimens of trees, shrubs and plants. In 1794 he visited the Linville, Black, Yellow, Roan, Grandfather and Table mountains. The late Col. Davenport of Yadkin Valley was his guide. His "Flora Boreali-Americana" is yet a classic. Mr. Fraser, a Scotchman, made botanical collections in these mountains in 1787 and 1789; and, under the patronage of the Russian government, he explored them again in 1799, accom- panied by his eldest son, when he found the laurel or Rhodo- dendron Catawbiense. They came again in 1807, and in 1811 the son returned, spending several years, and annually sending large consignments of plants and seed to Great Brit- ain. F. A. Michaux, son of Andre, was here in 1802, and published his "Forest Trees of North America" in 1857. Thomas Nuttall, an Englishman, examined a portion of our mountains, and wrote "Genera of North American Plants." He died in 1859. Prof. Asa Gray of the University of Cam- bridge and John Carey of New York were in the mountains of Ashe and Yancey in 1841; and in 1843 Prof. Gray, with Mr. Sullivan of Ohio, came into our mountains from Virginia. S. B. Buckley came by the Hiwassee in 1842, and in the same year Mr. Rugel, a German collector, was here. In 1844 Mr. Dow, a young botanist, traversed the entire length of our mountain range. In 1840 Prof. Gray found the Lilium Can-
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HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
adense, but Dr. Sereno Watson discovered that it possessed traits peculiar to itself alone, "set it aside as a distinct species and honored it with its discoverer's name." In 1839 Dr. Gray observed in Paris an unnamed specimen brought there by the elder Michaux from "les hautes montagnes de Caro- linie"; but on his return failed to find it till in 1877 G. M. Hymes, then a boy, accidentally discovered it on the bank of the Ca- tawba near Marion. Dr. Gray had already named it Shortia in honor of Dr. C. W. Short. In September, 1886, Professor Sargent discovered that the Hogback mountain above Lake Toxaway is the original habitat of the Shortia, just 98 years after Michaux had first found it and probably near the same spot.
PIONEERS IN FORESTRY. Before the railroad got to Ashe- ville, and afterwards, shrewd men went through these moun- tains buying standing timber and paying for it with a song, if with that. Thousands of the finest black walnut trees were branded as the property of the purchasers and left to grow on the land of the seller. Later on the finest poplars and cherries were also purchased and left to grow, while the railroads were ever drawing nearer. The walnut trees were first cut and their trunks hauled for miles to the head of the railroad. Later still the poplars and cherries followed. Then followed a demand for the stumps of the walnuts, and these also found a ready market, and brought more than the trees which had been cut from them, for by this time we had grown in knowledge and knew somewhat of the value of our timber. We had not known it before the Civil War, having used black walnut and cherry and poplar rails for the building of fences.
SCOTTISH LAND AND TIMBER COMPANY. In the eighties this company, managed by Alexander A. Arthur from Scot- land, bought up ten square miles of the finest timber on Big Pigeon, between Cataloochee and Big creeks, and tried to float the logs down the Pigeon; but it was soon discovered that it did not pay at that time. Later on the Bushnells of Ohio, one of whom was afterward governor of Ohio, came and set up extensive mills at the junction of Little Ten- nessee and Tuckaseegee rivers, where they established booms; but the first flood swept booms and logs away. The place was called Bushnell and still retains the name. The Ritters, Whitings and others have followed.
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FLORA AND FAUNA
MILLS TO THE TIMBER. During this time many small concerns were taking small steam engines to the timber and cutting it near where it stood. Even this did not pay in many cases, and it became a saying that if you had a grudge against a man, just give him a steam saw-mill and his ruin would soon follow. The business has since thriven in some cases and proven disastrous in others.
WEALTH IN FORESTS. It is in her forests, however, espe- cially of late years, that this section has found its greatest wealth. There are at least a dozen well recognized species of oak, while most of the hardwoods and the coniferous and de- ciduous growths common to this latitude can be found in great abundance. Already saw mills, pulp mills, acid mills, and other mills for the utilization of these forests have been established and thousands of men are employed where only a few found employment before. The railroads are taxed to supply cars in which to haul the products of the forest to market. With the adoption of intelligent forestry methods promised by the United States Government, which is now acquiring many of these forested areas, the future seems to hold out the hope that these forests will continue to be a source of revenue for all time to come.
FOREST FIRES. From the report of J. S. Holmes (State Forester) of 1911, it appears that the forest fires in the vari- ous mountain counties in 1910 have wrought considerable damage; table four of that report giving the facts in detail. From the same paper can be gathered the steps that have been taken to prevent these fires, including the State and National legislation on the subject. In 1909 the legislature of this State passed a law to declare any wooded land above 2,000 feet elevation a "State Forest," and the appointment of wardens as the owner of the land may request; but advan- tage has not been generally taken of its provisions, because it requires the owner to pay one-half a cent an acre additional tax for the benefit of the school fund, while he has also to pay the wardens for their services.
FROM ADVANCE SHEET OF FOREST SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES, 1912. Estimated amount of standing timber in thousand feet board measure, trees 10 inches and over in diameter breast high, in western North Carolina, by coun- ties :
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HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
Counties
(Acres)
Area Forested (Acres)
Per Cent of Porest Land
Average Stand Per Acre (Board Feet)
Total (Thousand
Feet )
Cherokee.
288,640
228,473
76
1,635
373,690
Clay
118,400
99,650
84
3,804
379,027
Graham
193,280
173,763
90
6,255
1,086,937
Swain.
358,400
336,850
94
4,747
1,598,927
Macon
339,840
288,234
85
2,980
858,795
Jackson.
316,160
284,105
90
2,765
785,449
Haywood
346,240
287,592
83
4,960
1,426,498
Transylvania.
237,440
208,573
88
1,712
357,064
Henderson
231,680
140,299
61
1,862
261,182
Buncombe.
399,360
198,807
50
1,673
332,539
Madison
275,840
196,763
71
2,908
572,222
Yancey
193,280
159,660
83
4,625
738,504
Mitchell
231,680
178,479
77
3,596
641,750
Watauga
211,200
147,901
70
4,534
670,555
Ashe.
255,360
145,741
57
3,594
523,848
Alleghany
142,720
53,071
77
2,030
107,728
Total.
4,139,520 3,127,961
76
3,425
10,714,715
EASTERN FOREST RESERVES. In 1900 Dr. C. P. Ambler, George S. Powell, Hon. Locke Craig and Hon. Josephus Daniels inaugurated the Appalachian National Park move- ment at Asheville, which culminated in March, 1910, in the passage by Congress of the Weeks act, under which $10,000,- 000 were appropriated for the purchase of wild lands in the mountains at the heads of the navigable rivers of the eastern States. But as only $2,000,000 could be expended in any year, and as the act could not be put into force between March and June 30, 1910, the expiration of the fiscal year, only $8,000,000 were available. The operation of this act expires in 1915. At the expiration of 1913 the following purchases had been made :
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS :
State
Tracts
Acres
Price
Value
Georgia
148
77,235
$6.75
$507,311.70
North Carolina.
146
108,518
7.88
855,605.25
South Carolina
68
23,286
5.50
128,157.25
Tennessee
19
164,605
4.88
798,624.00
Virginia
77
208,134
3.31
689,245.66
West Virginia
25
63,786
2.67
170,296.20
Total
483
645,564
$3,149,240.06
WHITE MOUNTAINS :
New Hampshire.
22
100,437
$7.01
704,112.50
Grand total
505
746,001
$5.17
$3,853,352.56
Total Area
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FLORA AND FAUNA
As indicative of the rapid advance in the price of timber- land in the mountains, the Murchison boundary in Yancey county may be cited. It was sold at Sheriff's sale about 1879 to the Murchisons for $2,200, who held it intact as a timber and game preserve until December, 1909, when they sold it for $225,000 to Carr and Keys, These held it about a year and sold it to - Brown for $300,000. The late R. B. Johnston, who owned 5,000 acres on Cat Tail creek, adjoining the Murchison tract, vainly offered it to Big Tom Wilson for $750 in 1879 as a goat farm. In January, 1911, John- ston's heirs sold the timber on this tract to the Carolina Spruce Company for $110,000. In October, 1912, G. W. Vanderbilt sold to Lewis Carr of Virginia, the timber, wood and bark, stand- ing and down, on 69,326 acres of mountain land in Transyl- vania, Henderson and Buncombe counties for $12 per acre, payable in installments in twenty years. He had bought this land twenty years before for less than $3 per acre. (Deed Book, Buncombe, No. 161, p. 518.)
ELK AND BUFFALO. The native fauna, alas! has largely dis- appeared. But when Daniel Boone and his contemporaries first crossed the Blue Ridge they found black bear and red deer in the greatest numbers; while, in the neighborhood of Banner Elk have, even in recent years, been discovered the bones of elk and caribou. Elk mountain and Bull Gap in Buncombe county take their names from the elk. There is reason to believe that buffalo used to pasture along the lonely streams of this elevated plateau, while smaller game, such as the opossum, the raccoon, mink and otter, have not entirely disappeared to this day. The beaver, however, has long been extinct, leaving its name to innumerable streams. (See ante pp. 42, 65, 251, 252 and 253.)
DOGS FOR FOOD? In that storehouse of information con- cerning this section of country, the Nineteenth Annual Re- port of the Bureau of American Ethnology, ‘ page 26, it ap- pears that when DeSoto arrived at Guaxule, which the author, James Moody, identifies as "the great Nacoochee mound, in White county, Ga., a few miles northwest of the present Clarksville," and near Franklin, N. C., the Cherokees "gave the Spaniards 300 dogs for food, although, according to the Elvas narrative, the Indians themselves did not eat them." In a foot note it is stated that "Elvas, Biedma, and Ranjel
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HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
all make special reference to the dogs given them at this place; they seem to have been of the same small breed ('per- rillos') which Ranjel says the Indians used for food." Men- tion is also made of the "delicious service berry of the south- ern mountains. " 6
FIRST BUFFALOES. From the same work, page 26, it is learned that when DeSoto was resting at Chiha, near the present Columbus, Ga., he met with "a chief who confirmed what the Spaniards had heard before concerning mines in the province of Chisca," saying that there was "a melting of cop- per and of another metal of about the same color, but softer, and therefore not so much used," and that DeSoto sent two soldiers on foot with the Indian guides to find Chisca, ' which was "northward from Chiaha, somewhere in upper Georgia or the adjacent part of Alabama or Tennes- see." When these soldiers returned to DeSoto they reported that they had been taken "through a country so poor in corn, so rough, and over so high mountains that it would be impos- sible for the army to follow"; but they had "brought back with them a dressed buffalo skin which the Indians there had given them, the first ever obtained by white men, and de- scribed in the quaint old chronicle as "an ox hide as thin as a calf's skin, and the hair like a soft wool between the coarse and fine wool of sheep." This must have been in the mountains of North Carolina.
FRUIT CULTURE. As to the adaptability of the soil and climate of the mountains to fruit culture, the State Agricul- tural Department has this to say in a pamphlet entitled "Orchard Lands," and dated at Raleigh, N. C., October 7, 1910 :
"The Appalachian mountain region attains in North Carolina its maximum development, for here it reaches the greatest height east of the Rockies. This gives it a cool climate, like that of the northern states and Canada. In addition to its altitude, it has, on account of its south- ern latitude, a longer growing season and a more abundant and brighter sunlight. This makes it ideal for the commercial production of hardy fruits. The apples grown in this region are of very high color and of fine quality. The rainfall is heavy in summer, giving a rapid growth and making fruit of large size. The fall weather is dry, cool, and bright, thus giving the most favorable conditions for fruit harvesting and mar- keting. The soils of the mountains are rich and fertile and produce a good growth both of tree and fruit. Healthy old trees are growing in many parts which have been bearing heavily for upwards of a century.
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FLORA AND FAUNA
In the deep, rich, alluvial soil of mountain coves the famous Albemarle Pippin finds the soil that brings it to its greatest perfection. On the mountainsides, in many places, are found the thermal zones that are so rarely visited by frost that total failures of fruit are practically un- known. It is destined to be the most noted apple-growing section in the whole country. Apples from the mountain country have twice carried off the first prize at the Madison Square Garden in New York City in competition with the whole United States. Peaches attain a color and quality there which they do not reach in the lower country. They grow as handsome as the California peaches, and as to quality the California product is hardly to be named in comparison with them."
LIVE STOCK. Of the raising of live stock, the same excel- lent authority, in a pamphlet entitled "North Carolina : A Land of Opportunity In Fruit Growing, Farming and Truck- ing," has this to say, in a chapter called "Climates" (p. 36):
"It is a region of fertile valleys and elevated plateaus, with a climate very similar to that of the northern middle states. The summers are cool and pleasant and the whole region is an attractive one to the sum- mer visitor and is becoming a great summer resort. The winters are cold, but shorter than those of the middle states north. In most mountain regions the mountainsides are rocky and sterile, but in the mountains of North Carolina, as a rule, the mountain slopes are covered with fertile soil and in some parts of the mountain country the treeless 'balds' have their slopes to their lofty tops covered with fertile soil and rich grasses, on which great herds of cattle are grazed in summer. The valleys in the southern section of the mountain country are less elevated and the climate is mild . and pleasant, while the snowfall is very light. The clear streams of water that flow everywhere and the natural growth of fine grasses mark this region for cattle and the dairy, while on the uplands fruit of all kinds flourishes as it seldom does elsewhere."
GRAINS RICH IN PROTEIDS. Agriculturally the soil of this section is hospitable to the growth of all the fruits, vegetables and cereals of the temperate zone. 7 Some of the lands are too high and cold for maize or Indian corn, but rye and buck- wheat can be grown there in great abundance. The soil is generally too thin to produce a large yield of corn or wheat to the acre, but the corn grown, being small and hard and maturing quickly, is richer in the proteids and all nutritive qualities than the larger and softer kernels which grow in such abundance from the black soil of the prairie states in the corn belt proper. It more than makes up in quality what it lacks in abundance. Corn grown on Tuskeegee creek in Swain county, in 1893, by John M. Sawyer, took the prize at the Columbian Exposition for being richer in the proteids
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HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
than any other corn grown in the United States. Col. W. L. Bryan of Boone was awarded a diploma and bronze medal by the same exposition for buckwheat grown in Watauga county in 1893.
THE HOME OF THE APPLE. But, while most fruits and melons thrive in this soil, it is the apple which does best and brings most credit and notoriety to this section. Apples from this country took the prize at the Philadelphia Centen- nial in 1876 over all apples grown in America, while prizes have been awarded to this fruit at the Chicago and St. Louis fairs. 8 It is a crop that rarely fails. There is a black soil in different localities of this section peculiarly adapted to the growth of apples, but they do well in any soil and require very little attention. The United States Geological Survey publishes maps showing the different variety of soils in the mountain region of North Carolina.
GRASSES AND STOCK. In the counties of Ashe, Alleghany, and Watauga grasses flourish so abundantly that little corn is planted, as it pays better to raise stock on the rich grass and hay and to buy such corn as is needed for work stock and human consumption than to plough up the grass and raise this cereal. In all the mountain region in these counties the land is not so steep but that it can be broken up and planted in grass, the result being that, with the exception of a fringe of trees upon the crest of the ridges, almost the entire country is given up to grass. Very little timber is left hereabout. On all the mountains, after the timber has been removed and the surface ground exposed to sunlight, grasses grow abun- dantly.
STOCK "RANGING." In other counties, where grass does not thrive so well, owing to the shade of the thick timber, and where the land is too steep to plough, cattle, mules, horses and hogs are "ranged" in the mountains from May until November and are then driven in, fat and sleek.
BEAR, DEER AND TURKEY. While, as has been said, most of the big game has been killed, there are still a few black bear left in the more remote and inaccessible mountains, in the pursuit of which much sport can be had. There are also a few red deer scattered here and there, and a few tame herds maintained in private parks. Gray squirrels, pheas- ants, quail, wild turkey, the red and gray fox and an occasional wolf can still be found in the more remote sections.
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FLORA AND FAUNA
MOUNTAIN AND RAINBOW TROUT. The introduction of the California or Rainbow trout into the clear and cold moun- tain creeks and rivers, and black bass in the larger streams, has proven a great success; and, while the mountain or speckled trout proper are being consumed by their rainbow brothers, the latter still afford great sport for the anglers who visit these mountains every spring and summer in increasing numbers. But for the reprehensible and unlawful practice of dynamiting the bass streams by irresponsible people, this gamest of all game fish would soon multiply so rapidly as to afford sport for all who might care to take them. There are no finer streams anywhere for bass than the Cheowah, Ten- nessee, Tuckaseegee, lower Nantahala, upper French Broad, Hiwassee, Nollechucky or Toe, Watauga and New rivers.
WHERE AND WHEN IT WAS TOO COLD TO RAISE CORN. From Col. W. L. Bryan's "Primitive History of the Moun- tain Region," we learn that when Ashe and Watauga were first settled "the seasons would not mature corn and the pioneer settlers had to get their corn from the valley of the Yadkin river, carrying the same on their backs, for few had horses at that time. There being no roads save the trails which had been made by the Indians and the great pioneer, Boone, those who had horses would place two and a half bushels of corn in a strong homespun and woven tow sack, throw it on their horse's back and fasten it by the use of a surcingle, turn the horse in the path and walk behind."
PEA VINE. From the same authority we learn that "in the earlier days of our country there was a growth called pea-vine, which was a very rich food for stock, and had an almost limitless range throughout the entire almost bound- less forest."
SOME FAMOUS HUNTERS OF THE OLDEN DAY. "Near the headwaters of the Watauga is the Linville gap separating the Grandfather from Hanging Rock mountain and the waters of the Main fork of Watauga from the head prong of the Lin- ville river. Near this gap used to live James Aldrich, a noted hunter, when bear, deer, elk, wolves and panther abounded. Harrison Aldrich, James' son, also lived there, and was a great hunter, having killed over one hundred bear." An encounter between Aldrich and a bear in a cave, while George Dugger, "another pioneer hunter and one of the very best of men,"
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HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
waited on the outside, is related by Col. Bryan; and another in which Aldrich shot a sleeping bear in a cave, striking him in the burr of the ear and killing "him so dead he never waked up." Of like courage and skill was Big Tom Wilson of Yan- cey, and Welborn Waters of Whitetop. Near the branch where James Winkler now lives, near Boone, and when Jordan Councill, Jr., was living there, a dog treed an unknown animal. Thinking it was a coon Jordan Councill went up the tree and fol- lowed the unknown "varmint" out on a limb. When it dragged its tail in Mr. Councill's face he knew it was a pan- ther. He hastened down, got a torch, "shined" the eyes of the great cat and shot it.
FIRE-HUNTING. According to Col. Bryan, this sport was conducted by hunters during a certain season when the stones in creeks and rivers are covered with a peculiar moss of which deer and elk are very fond. The hunter would take a canoe or other small boat, place a torch in the front end and himself remain in the stern. The boat was poled or paddled by another. The boat would be silently floated up to deer stand- ing belly-deep in the water and plunging their muzzles into the river to get the moss upon the rocks. Blinded by the light the deer would stand still till their eyes reflecting the light of the torch afforded a perfect target. Then the leaden missile would speed upon its fatal way. Cows also like this moss, and sometimes hunters would kill their own stock.
RAVENS. The ravens which fed Elijah the Tishbite by the brook Cherith (1 Kings, xvii, 6) did not thereby secure ven- eration for their descendants of our mountains after their set- tlement by the whites; for, when spring opened, they came down from the cliffs and crags and preyed upon the young pigs and lambs of the settlers, first plucking out their eyes and then clipping off their ears and finally killing and eating them. At the report of a gun in the remote mountains seventy-five years ago all the ravens within hearing flocked to the hunter, in the hope of preying upon whatever he might have killed or wounded. Fresh raw meat was, when hidden in tree-tops, kept from their beaks only by the wad of tow which had been used to clean the foul barrels of the guns.
WOLVES. On the 6th of June, 1794, Gideon Lewis entered 68 acres "under the Three Tops mountain," at what is now Creston. (Deed Book A, Ashe coutny, p. 38.) Gideon and
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FLORA AND FAUNA
his family were great hunters; but his sons, Gideon and Nathan, were for years the great wolf hunters of Ashe county. They would follow the gaunt female to her den, and while one waited outside, the other brother crawled in and secured the pups, from six to ten in each litter, but allowing the mother to escape. The young were then skalped, the skalp of a young wolf being paid for the same as that of the mature animal. For each skalp the county paid $2.50. When asked why he never killed grown wolves, Gideon Lewis answered: "Would you expect a man to kill his milch-cow ?" Wolves had greatly increased during the Civil War, and soon after its close the late Thomas Sutherland of Ashe county, with other cattle herders, hired the late Welborn Waters to kill all the wolves from the White Top to the Roan mountain. He would con- ceal himself in the wildest parts of the mountains and howl in ` imitation of a wolf. When the wolves which had heard him came, he shot them from his place of concealment. This soon exterminated the breed along the Tennessee line.
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