USA > North Carolina > Western North Carolina; a history, 1730-1913 > Part 49
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GINSENG. David Miller, Col. Bryan's grandfather, dug "a root of ginseng that weighed one pound, avoirdupois, and would frequently dig two bushels and a half of this root in a day. The price then was only ten cents per pound."
This is usually called "sang" by our people. Its value, use and how to prepare it for the market of China were first taught us by Andre Michaux on his first visit to the Blue Ridge in August, 1794.º It is called Gentian by some. 10
COLONEL BYRD'S RHAPSODY. In his "Writings" Col. Byrd of Westover (pp. 211-212) thus sings the praises of this indig- enous herb : When near the Dan river on his famous sur- vey of the dividing line between Virginia and North Caro- lina, he chewed a root of ginseng, which "kept up my spirits, and made me trip away as nimbly in my half Jack-Boots as younger men could in their shoes. This plant is now in high esteem in China where it sells for its Weight in Silver. (The capitals are all Col Byrd's). Indeed it does not grow there, but in the Mountains of Tartary, to which place the Emperor of China Sends 10,000 Men every Year on purpose to gather it. . . Indeed, it is a vegetable of so many vertues (sic), that Providence has planted it very thin in every Coun- try that has the hapiness to Produce it. . This noble Plant grows likewise at the Cape of Good Hope, where it is
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called Kanna, and is in wonderful Esteem among the Hot- tentots. It grows also on the northern Continent of America, near the Mountains, but as sparingly as Truth and Public Spirit. . . Its vertues are, that it gives an uncommon warmth to the Blood, and frisks the spirits, beyond any other Cordial. It cheers the heart even of a Man that has a bad Wife, and makes him look down with great Composure on the crosses of the world. It promotes insensible Perspiration, dissolves all Phlegmatic and Viscous Humors that are apt to obstruct the Narrow Channels of the Nerves. It helps the Memory and would quicken even Helvetian [Shades of Julius Cæsar!] dullness. 'Tis friendly to the Lungs, much more than Scolding itself. It comforts the Stomach, and Strengthens the Bowels, preventing all Colicks and Fluxes. In one word, it will make a man live a great while, and very well while he does live. And what is more, it will make Old Age amiable, by rendering it lively, cheerful and good-humored."
The Associated Press dispatches on August 6, 1913, said that 150,000 pounds of ginseng was shipped to China from the United States for the past year, valued at $1,500,000-or ten dollars a pound, whereas it used to be sold for 1212 cents in the mountains. Also that 155,000 pounds of the same herb had been exported the year before, valued at $7 per pound. It was also stated that before the wild forest supply diminished largely it brought only 40 cents per pound; and that its culti- vation began in 1898.
FINE FOR DOGS BUT FINER FOR SHEEP IF- In a country so ideally situated for sheep-raising as these mountains, it is difficult to explain why that industry has not been more suc- cessful than it has been, unless the destructiveness of dogs is the reason. These faithful canine friends were indispensable to the pioneer, but their possession is now no longer necessary, and the farmers are getting rid of all that are not required for dairy purposes. This eliminates many hounds and worthless mongrels and substitutes for them the intelligent Scotch col- lie and shepherd. All efforts to tax useless dogs out of exist- ence have thus far failed to eliminate the superfluity of our canine friends.
WILD PIGEONS. These birds used to come in flocks which literally darkened the heavens. At night their roosts were visited by men and boys bearing torches who wantonly killed
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thousands of these light-blinded birds. They come no longer. Pigeon river in Haywood county and Pigeon Roost creek in Mitchell have been named for these migrants.
THERMAL BELTS. In the pamphlet of the N. C. Agricul- tural Department, called "North Carolina : A Land of Op- portunity in Fruit Growing, Farming and Trucking" (Raleigh), is a most admirable article on thermal belts written by the late Silas McDowell, of Macon county, in 1858, for the U. S. Patent Office Report, from observations made near Franklin; and in the same paper are excerpts from a report made by the late Professor John LeConte on the thermal belts or "frost- less zones of the flanks of the mountain spurs adjacent to the valleys of the Blue Ridge." His observations were made at Flat Rock, Henderson county, fifty miles east of Franklin. "These facts point out this region as the best place to be found for the cultivation of celery, cauliflower, tomatoes and other vegetables for canning; raspberries and strawberries, for shipment and preserving; for peaches, pears, fine apples, cher- ries, quinces and currants; also for the finer table and wine grapes."
MILK SICK. In former years, before the country had been cleared of its forests, far more than at the present time, though the malady still exists in certain localities, there was prevalent a disease popularly known as "milk sick, " socalled because it was supposed to be caused by the drinking of the milk of cows which had been pastured on "milk sick" land. The cows themselves do not at first disclose the fact that they were suffer- ing any ill effects from having pastured there, as, if they did, it would be easy for people to avoid the disease by refraining from the use of milk of such cattle. On the contrary, such cows seem to be normal. This sickness is usually fatal to the victim unless properly treated. There were, and still are, for that matter, men and women peculiarly skilled and successful in the treatment of this obscure disease, who were called "milk sick" doctors. Sometimes they were not doc- tors or physicians at all, and did not pretend to practice medicine generally, seeming to know how to treat nothing except "milk sick." Whiskey or brandy with honey is the usual remedy; but in the doses and proportionate parts of each ingredient and when to administer it consisted the skill of the physician. When the "patch" of land supposed to
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contain milk sick had been located it was fenced off and all cattle kept from grazing there.
SYMPTOMS. In his "Medicine in Buncombe County Down to 1885 : Historical and Biographical Sketches," 1906, Dr. Galliard S. Tennent, M. D., says :
"The symptoms, those of severe gastroenteritis with some varia- tions, were said to follow the ingestion of milk or butter from an in- fected cow. The origin was variously ascribed to some plant or fungus growth, or to some mineral poison occurring in certain spots."
DISEASE CANNOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR. Here is what the United States Department of Agriculture says on the sub- ject : 11
"In reply I beg to advise you that many efforts have been made to elucidate the question regarding the nature and cause of milk sickness, but although many theories have been discussed none of them have so far been generally accepted. Some investigators hold that the disease is of micro-organismal origin, some that it is due to an autointoxication, while others think it is caused by vegetable or mineral poisons. All seem, however, to agree that the disease is limited to low swampy un- cultivated land, and that the area of the places where it occurs is often restricted to one of a few acres. Furthermore, that when such land or pastures have been cultivated and drained the disease disappears com- pletely.
"The discovery of a new focus of this disease in the Pecos Valley of New Mexico in November, 1907, gave Jordan and Harris the oppor- tunity of studying this peculiar affection by modern bacteriological methods. As a result they have succeeded in isolating in pure cultures from the blood and organs of animals dead of this disease a spore-form- ing bacillus which they name Bacillus lactimorbi. With this bacillus they have reproduced in experiment animals the symptoms and lesions pe- culiar to milk sickness or trembles, and from these animals the same organism has been recovered in purity. It therefore appears to have been demonstrated that the bacillus in question is the actual cause of the disease. As Jordan and Harris have already indicated, more com- prehensive studies, based on a larger supply of material, are desirable in order that the many obscure and mystifying features connected with the etiology of this rapidly disappearing disease may be elucidated.
"The proper means of preventing losses from this disease is by ex- cluding access to such pastures where the disease is known to occur. This has been done with good results in many places by the use of barb wire fences.
"The affected animals should be kept as quiet as possible and a dose of one pound of Epsom salts dissolved in water administered as a drench. If the symptoms become alarming a competent veterinarian should be employed."
HONEY DEW OR PLANT LICE. There is a sugary forma- tion often observable on the leaves of certain trees and sap-
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lings-usually of chestnut, oak and hickory-which looks like a coating of honey which has dried upon the upper surface of such leaves. It has a sweetish taste, which has given it the name of honey-dew. Many persons really believe it is a sweet dew which settles on the upper surface of the leaves; but when the question as to the cause of this deposit was asked, the United States Department of Agriculture thus ex- plained it : 1 2
"The honey-dew, in question, is secreted by plant lice, scale insects, or leaf-hoppers, and more especially by plant lice, which appear early in the season and become frequently very numerous and gradually disappear as the summer advances. The honey-dew is exuded by them from the anal end of the body and accumulates on the leaves below them."
NOTES.
1T. L. Lowe's "History of Watauga County."
"The facts stated herein are from "Southern Wild Flowers," by Alice Loundesberry, and P. M. Hale's "Woods and Timbers of North Carolina."
'Michaux's journal and facts about his life are set out in Dugger's book, pp. 251-259, and were taken from a memoir prepared by Mr. Charles S. Sargent for the American Philo- sophical Society of Philadelphia.
{J. W. Powell, director, 1897-'98. "Ibid., p. 27.
"These berries grow wild, and it is surprising that no effort has been made to culti- vate them.
7See "North Carolina, A Land of Opportunity in Fruit Growing, Farming and Truck- ing," issued by the Department of Agriculture. Raleigh, N. C.
"See Bulletin of " North Carolina Fruit Land for Sale," issued by Department of Agri- culture, Raleigh, 1910.
"Balsam Groves, 248.
10McClure, 233.
11Letter of A. D. Melvin to Hon. J. C. Pritchard, February 7, 1912. Nancy Hanka, Abraham Lincoln's mother, died of milk-sick.
12L. O. Howard to Hon. J. C. Pritchard, February 9, 1912.
CHAPTER XXIII PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES
AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK. To give a full and detailed account or description of all the peculiar physical features of this Land of the Sky would be impossible in the allotted space. Doubtless there are many that are unknown to the writer. The facts given, however, may be relied on as an under- rather than as an over-statement.
WAS IT EVER "LAKE TAHKEEOSTEE?" "Whether or not the valley of the French Broad near Asheville was ever, as has been supposed, the head of a mountain lake, whose lower or deepest part was above Mountain Island and Hot Springs, is an unsettled question for the geologists. 1 Certain it is that the French Broad has cut its way through the mountains at Mountain Island, as is apparent to the most casual observer of the mountains at that place, not only in the obvious signs that still remain to indicate the exact spot where it cut through, but also in the unquestionable beds of that river in the days gone by now on the tops of the mountain ridges which lie along its western banks, probably 200 feet higher than its present bed, and only a short distance above the Mountain Island. These old beds cross the channel of the present stream below the Palisades at Stackhouse's and above the Mountain Island. They contain many stones worn smooth and rounded by the abrasions to which their position in the river subjected them." This is also true of the stones on Battery Park hill. Dr. Sondley suggests that this may have been the famous lake mentioned by Lederer in his account of exploration into North Carolina in 1669-70, as it "fits the description and lies near the place," describing his visit to the Sara Indians who were subject to "a neighbor king residing upon the bank of a great lake called the Ushery, environed on all sides with mountains and Wisacky marsh." The water of this lake was a little brackish, due to mineral waters flowing into it, and was about ten leagues broad. He cites Hawk's History of North Caro- lina, p. 49.
MINOR ODDITIES. On the waters of Meat Camp, Watauga, is a field formerly belonging to David Miller who represented
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Ashein the House of Commons in 1810, 1811 and 1813, still known as the "Sinking Spring Field," because its water sinks shortly after appearing on the surface of the ground. In this field was also the largest white oak of which people still speak, said to have been 3212 feet in circumference and from 50 to 60 feet to the first limbs. There are several immense springs which gush out of the earth in what is still known as The Meadows, mentioned in the will of Robert Henry as having belonged to him at the time of his death, but which is now owned by the heirs of Dr. Hitchcock of Murphy. On a ridge on the bank of Little Santeetla, near where John Denton used to live, is the largest single spring in the mountains, the stream from it being almost a creek. On the same ridge at the point known as Howard's Knob, near Boone, and probably half a mile to the northeast, is a place about ten feet in diameter on which it is said no snow was ever known to lie, and a piece of the ore taken from it melted into lead. There is also still some talk of a Swift and Munday mine, now long lost, but supposed to be somewhere in Ashe. What metal it was sup- posed to contain is not now known.
CHEOAH AND NANTAHALA RIVERS ORIGINALLY ONE. In the description of the Nantahala quadrangle (1907) the United States Geological survey says of the Nantahala and Cheoah rivers:
"Nantahala river has by far the greatest descent, falling from 4,100 feet on the Blue Ridge to a little less than 1,600 feet at the point where it joins the Little Tennessee, an average grade of about 65 feet per mile, the greater part of it coming in the upper 25 miles. A similarly rapid fall characterizes the lower portion of Cheoah river. Originally the Nan- tahala flowed in a direct course down the Cheoah valley. It was di- verted about midway in its course by a branch of Little Tennessee river, working back along the soluble Murphy marble. Its old elevation of 2,800 feet is marked by pebble deposits on summits one and one-half miles nearly west and three miles nearly southeast of Nantahala. On the upper reaches of both these streams small plateaus and terraces, rarely over a mile in width, accompany the watercourses. Below Aquone, on the Nantahala, and Buffalo creek, on the Cheoah, the channels of the rivers descend in narrow and rapidly deepening canyons. Similar pla- teaus, from two to four miles wide, border the upper parts of the Little Tennessee and Tuckaseegee. The river channels have cut their way 200 to 500 feet below the surface of these plateaus. Not far beyond the junction of these two rivers the valley is hemmed in by steep mountains and becomes a narrow and rocky gorge. The descent of 4,000 feet from Hangover to the mouth of Cheoah river is accomplished in a trifle over four miles."
W. N. C .- 34
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HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
THE BALDS. There are no balds on the Blue Ridge; but from Whitetop at the Virginia line to the Stratton and Hooper balds in Graham county, the Great Smoky mountain sum- mits, abound in bald spots. They are usually above the 5,000-foot mark, and contain no trees whatever. Instead, they are carpeted with rich wild grass, and tradition says that before white men turned their cattle on them to graze, this grass was "saddle-high." Some of the transverse ranges have these balds also, notably the Nantahalas and the Bal- sams. There must be a thousand acres of almost level and perfectly bald lands on the Roan and Yellow mountains, and a large acreage on the Tusquittee and Nantahala. From Thunderhead in Swain to the Little Tennessee river there is a succession of bald summits, and the Andrews bald just north of Clingman's Dome covers a considerable area. There are invariably small springs flowing from the edges of these bald spots, where cattle slake their thirst in midsummer. From a distance these green patches seem to be yellow, hence the name of the Yellow mountain just north of the Roan. Surrounding these balds are usually forests of balsam trees in primeval state. The Blacks and Clingman's Dome are covered with them, also the Balsam mountains, in Haywood county. The soil is black and deep.
STRATTON AND HOOPER BALDS. At the head of Santeetla and Buffalo creeks in Graham county, near its junction with Cherokee, are the Hooper and Stratton Balds, named for first settlers by those names. Near them are the Haw Knob and Laurel Top; and to the north Hangover, Hayo and Fodder Stack mountains. Just below the Hangover is the residence of Dave Orr, one of the pioneers of that section and still a famous bear hunter. In 1897 a bear caught his bell-wether, and the next day Dave belled a cowardly young hound and left him to gnaw upon the carcass of the dead sheep, and waited. Soon the pup came running, with bruin at his heels. Dave had a "mess of bar meat for dinner that day."
TUSQUITTEE BALDS. The view from the balds of Tus- quittee is unsurpassed in the mountains. There are several bald prominences on this mountain, one of which is known as the Medlock Bald and another the Pot Rock Bald, from a depression in the rock almost the exact size and depth of an ordinary pot. It is at least two miles along the top of this mountain, which forms an elbow in its course.
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To the north of this range and scarcely three miles distant is the parallel range, known as Valley River mountains, and they are separated by Fires creek. They come together at a point called Nigger Head. This is at the head of Tunah and Chogah creeks, and there is a high, narrow ridge running from it to the Weatherman Bald, across which deer and bear used to have to pass when driven by the hunters from the head of Chogah creek or Fires creek. It was along this sharp ridge, scarcely wide enough for a narrow footpath, that "Standers" used to be placed in order to get a shot at the fleeing game. The late Alex. P. Munday of Aquone used to be a famous bear hunter, and his old dog, "Nig," and his gray stallion, "Buck," knew better where to go than he did himself in order to get the best stand for a shot. It is near here that one finds the Juckers and Weatherman "roughs," or rocky places, grown up in vines, laurel and spruce pines. "Roughs" is sufficiently descriptive of them. On the Valley River mountains the principal peaks are Beal's Knob, White Oak Knob, the Big Stamp Knob and the Peachtree Knob.
MITCHELL'S PEAK. This highest point east of the Rocky mountains is about thirty miles from Asheville. The road used to go via what is now Black Mountain Station and the old Patton house, near what is the intake of the city water works and Gombroon, up the North Fork of the Swannanoa river almost to the Estatoe gap, where it took to the left, and passing the Half Way house, built by the late William Pat- ton of Charleston, S. C., zig-zagged up to the top. There is now a road via Montreat and Graybeard. Another trail is from Pensacola, in Yancey, in trying to follow which Prof. Mitchell lost his life, and another from South Toe river. It is also possible to go along the ridge from Celo at the head of Cattail. In 1905 Mr. R. S. Howland constructed a road from what is now the E. W. Grove park to the top of Sun- set mountain, thence to Locust gap, thence to Craven's gap, and thence to within half a mile of Bull gap, the grade being about one per cent from Overlook Park, and costing over $50,000. Later on Dr. C. P. Ambler constructed a road from this terminus to his house on a slope of Craggy, and known as Rattlesnake Lodge. From there on, in 1911, a riding way was built via Craggy to Mitchell's Peak; but it was never finished. This is the road that will be converted into "The
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Crest of the Blue Ridge" highway, and will pass Mitchell's Peak and go on via Altamont to Linville gap, over the Yonah- lossie road to Blowing Rock. Work was done on this road near Altamont in the Summer of 1912. The view from Mitchell's Peak is somewhat obstructed by the balsam growth surrounding it, and as clouds hover over it almost constantly, disappointment often attends a visit to this lofty point. In 1877 there was a hut made of balsam logs and covered with boughs, that afforded shelter to visitors, in addition to that under the shelving ledge of rock, beneath which hundreds of visitors have shivered and lain awake for hours. About 1885 the U. S. Weather Bureau established a station there, when more comfortable quarters were constructed for the observers. They had to "pack" their supplies up late in the fall, and were practically isolated till spring. That house, however, like the first spoken of, was afterwards burned by vandals. Other vandals, later on have shot holes through the monu- ment to Prof. Mitchell, and one fiend sank his axe-blade clean through one of its sides. There is a good spring near the peak. In 1912 a lumber company erected another shelter on top, and quarters can be secured for a night's lodging under certain conditions. Mr. William Patton of Charleston built the first trail to the top in 1857-58.
THE GRANDFATHER. From Linville city in Avery county, from Banner Elk, and from Blowing Rock good trails run to the top of the highest of the five peaks of the Grandfather. Pinola and Montezuma on the Linville river railroad are the nearest railroad points. The view is splendid-unsurpassed, in fact. Near the top is a spring which is said to be the cold- est in the mountains, being 45° in all seasons. Alexander McRae's and the Grandfather Inn are the nearest stopping places. McRea was born in Glenelg, Inverness county, Scotland, and came over to America in 1885, and has furnished music on the bagpipes to visitors to the Grandfather ever since. 2
THE ROAN MOUNTAIN. This can be reached from Roan Mountain station on the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad or from Bakersville, three miles from Toecane on the Cincinnati, Clinchfield and Ohio Railroad. It is much patronized by hay-fever patients. There is a fine hotel there. The view is better than any other. It is over 6,000 feet above the sea.
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NANTAHALA BALDS. The Wayah, Wine Spring, Rocky, Jarrett's and Little balds are the principal peaks. They can be reached from Franklin or from Aquone, both in Macon county. The view is splendid.
THUNDERHEAD. Just above what is still known as the Anderson Road, an abandoned wagon road from Tennessee to the Spence cabin in Swain, stands Thunderhead, one of the lofty peaks of the Great Smokies. From it Miss Mary N. Murfree saw the picture her pen painted in one of her stories of this region :
A PEN PICTURE. "On a certain steep and savage slope of the Great Smoky Mountains the primeval wilderness for many miles is unbroken save one meagre clearing. The presence of humanity upon the earth is further attested only by a log cabin, high on the rugged slant. At night, the stars seem hardly more aloof than the valley below. By day, the moun- tains assert their solemn vicinage, an austere company. The clouds that silently commune with the great peaks, the sin- ister and scathing deeds of the lightnings, the passionate rhet- oric of the thunders, the triumphant pageantry of the sunset tides, and the wistful yearnings of the dawn aspiring to the day-these might seem only incidents of this lonely and ex- alted life. So august is this mountain scheme that it fills all the world with its massive multitudinous presence: still stretching out into the dim blue distances an infinite per- spective of peak and range and lateral spur, till one may hardly believe that the fancy does not juggle with the fact."?
HELLS. There are many tangles and thicketty places in the coves of these mountains, and others where the laurel and ivy and small spruce pines so cover the banks of the streams as to render locomotion along them impossible. Axes are necessary to hew a way in many places, and woe to that man who ventures too far into their depths by crawling or creeping between their rigid branches. At the head of Tellico creek in Tennessee and in the Rainbow country of North Caro- lina, where the State line is now in dispute, is what is called Jeffries Hell. It is said that many years ago a man named Jeffries got bewildered in that place and spent nine days there without food before he managed to effect his escape. There are other hells in the mountains, but Jeffries' is the largest and most famous.
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