Cades Cove
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the East Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The valley was once home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park around it. Today Cades Cove is the single most popular destination for visitors to the park, which is itself the most visited national park in the United States, attracting over two million visitors a year, due to its well preserved homesteads, scenic mountain views, and abundant display of wildlife[1].
[edit] Geology
Cades Cove is a "window" through older rock, called so because of heavy erosion, causing to the older layers of sandstone and phyllite to be pushed over the younger limestone below, conversely to traditional younger over older piling standards.
[edit] History
The name "Cades Cove" is believed to come from the name of Chief Kade, a prominent Cherokee who lived in the valley before European settlement.
Europeans first began settling in the Cherokee territory in 1818. The place they selected was Cades Cove, Tennessee, called Tsiyaha by the Cherokee, or Place of the River Otter. While the Cherokee never lived there, the Cherokee used Cades Cove for their hunting grounds, as otter, bison, and elk were plentiful in that area at that time.
The story of European settlement in the coves has its roots in the War of 1812. Veterans of this war were given land grants on, what was then, the western frontier. Josiah Jobe, an entrepreneur, bought many of the grants from veterans who did not wish to move. He then convinced John Oliver, his wife Lucretia and their young daughter to be the first to live in the cove and prove it could be settled. They arrived in the fall of 1818 and barely survived the winter. In the spring Josiah Jobe returned and was only able to convince the Olivers to stay by giving Mrs. Oliver her own milk cow. At the peak of civilization in the cove, in the mid 1850s, there were about 125 homesteads and 700-750 residents who each knew the name and age of nearly everyone in the cove. The close-knit rural community thrived in the cove until the 1930s, when the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park caused much controversy among local residents.
The U.S. government negotiated with the cove residents during the process of buying land that would become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, repeatedly assuring them that they would not be forced out of their homes by eminent domain. Most of them were, however, though a few were able to stay for a nominal annual lease. The Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church maintained a small congregation until the 1960s, The last resident of Cades Cove died in 1999.
For about one-hundred years before the creation of the national park, much farming and logging was done in the valley, as the main source of economic development for the peoples living in the cove, both leading to massive deforestation. At first the National Park Service planned to let the cove return to its natural forest state, but it soon realized the attraction of a preserved village. Nonetheless, on the advice of contemporary cultural experts, it demolished the modern structures leaving the more primitive cabins and barns. As a result, a visitor to the cove may leave with an impression of a technologically backward community. However, in its day, the cove was as well educated and progressive as any rural community in Blount County, Tennessee.
[edit] Touring
Cades Cove, though geographically isolated, is today a very popular tourist destination in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A one-way, eleven mile (17.7 kilometer) paved loop around Cades Cove draws thousands of visitors daily, and can take over four hours to traverse during tourist season. The cove draws attention for numerous black bear sightings, although many enthusiasts make the trip for the abundant hiking access and well-preserved 19th Century homesteads. On most days, multiple deer can be seen in the meadows and woods throughout the cove. Popular hiking trails within the cove include the trail to Abrams Falls and the trail to Gregory Bald, the latter named after Russell Gregory, a prominent resident of the cove. In addition to hiking and general sightseeing, horseback and bicycle riding are popular activities.
