Western North Carolina National Parks PDF

Western North Carolina national parks By National Parks Service, Public Domain on 08.18.22 Word Count 1,388 Level MAX Western North Carolina is home to many national parks and forests, including Pisgah National Forest. Photo: Ken Thomas/Wikimedia Commons Photo: Ken Thomas/Wikimedia Commons In the...

Western North Carolina national parks By National Parks Service, Public Domain on 08.18.22 Word Count 1,388 Level MAX Western North Carolina is home to many national parks and forests, including Pisgah National Forest. Photo: Ken Thomas/Wikimedia Commons Photo: Ken Thomas/Wikimedia Commons In the early 16th century, Spaniards came seeking gold in the Great Smoky Mountains. By the mid- 1600s, the influence of European contact had begun in the area as explorers and traders moved into the mountains. Settlers arrived in the area in the late 1700s. When the first Europeans came, western North Carolina was a part of the Cherokee Nation. Later, during the removal period, a number of Cherokees were able to hide in the mountains and eventually obtained the lands comprising the current Cherokee reservation in western North Carolina. The 56,000-acre Qualla Boundary (Cherokee Indian Reservation) is located in the western counties of North Carolina. The larger part of the reservation is contiguous; however, numerous outlying Indian land parcels are adjacent to and intermingled with Forest lands. Incentives for settlement included the Land Grants given to Revolutionary War veterans. Resettlement of the Cherokee, the "Trail of Tears," took place in 1838, and Indian land soon became the property of the whites. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. For early settlers, farming became the main lifestyle. Livestock was grazed on the cleared land. Logging along the rivers allowed easy access to sawmills. A heavier demand for lumber and other wood products increased logging. Oxen, flumes, cable yarding equipment, and logging railways were used to move the timber, lumber, acid wood (tanbark), and firewood out of the forests. The area was sparsely populated until the years following the Civil War when western North Carolina was linked to the east by improved roads and the completion of the railroad. Asheville grew as a regional center, and increased demand for lumber and wood products led to intensive logging of nearby areas in the 1880s. Logging was initially limited to areas along rivers and creeks, but when these areas were clearcut and depleted, operations moved into the higher, more remote sections of the forest. George Vanderbilt hired Gifford Pinchot to manage his holdings and restore the privately owned Pisgah Forest to its former grandeur. Pinchot later became head of the U.S. Department of Forestry and was replaced by Carl Schenck. Schenck established the Biltmore Forestry School in 1897, the first forestry school in America, at the site of the present Cradle of Forestry in America. The forestry school was disbanded in 1909 when George Vanderbilt removed his financial backing. Pinchot and Schenck began stabilizing the environment by building wicker fences to control erosion, replanting forests, and practicing selective cutting. In 1917, Edith Vanderbilt, widow of George Vanderbilt, sold 86,700 acres to the U.S. Forest Service. This tract of land was the basis for the Pisgah Ranger District. Many historic homes on acquired land tracts were razed by the Forest Service following the purchase for safety reasons and to eliminate "squatters." These homesteads in the higher elevations of the forest date mainly to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The national forests were established to protect lands on the headwaters of navigable streams from deforestation, fire, and erosion, so that streamflow could be protected. Forest Service management has produced a relatively stable physical environment in the present Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. In the past, the terrain was substantially damaged by a combination of natural and cultural factors. This damage was especially intensive during the late 19th and early 20th Image 1. A logging truck carrying lumber centuries. Prior to reforestation, massive erosion of the uplands from Pisgah National Forest to Canton and occurred, creeks and rivers were flooded and scoured by soil Asheville. Photo: National Archives and runoff and the damaging effects of splash dams. Splash dams Records Administration. produced artificial impoundments to raise the water level, which was then released causing the timber to flow downstream to lumber yards. Wildfires were also rampant and, combined with the annual freeze/thaw cycle, damaged the surface integrity of both prehistoric and historic sites. Numerous logging roads and railroads were constructed, and because of the small percentage of level land in the mountains, they frequently affected saddles, gaps, and flats that contained archeological sites. Although severe past disturbances are evident, intact archeological remains exist and can be recovered and preserved. Types Of Historic Sites At National Parks Homesites This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Homesites are denoted by house remains. Attributes usually consist of one or more (intact or partial) chimneys, foundation stones or walls, and occasionally lumber and roofing material. A root cellar, well, or springhouse foundation, shrubbery, flower beds, and "homestead" trees are generally associated, as are the remains of one or more dependencies such as a smokehouse and carriage house or car shed. A road or trail is usually noticeable and may either be an overgrown roadbed or a road currently in use. Most houses were constructed of logs up to the period of the Civil War. Frame buildings increased as transportation routes improved and sawmills became more easily accessible. Farmsteads Many early settlers were farmers. Farmsteads range from small sharecropper or tenant farms to large upland plantations. The majority of farms were small, family owned operations. These archeological sites include house and dependency remains (and associated artifacts) but also structures and artifacts that are primarily associated with farming activities. Ancillary structures include one or more of the following: barn with stables and storage compartments, animal pens and shelters (chicken yard, hog lot), and structures for product storage such as a corn house (double corn cribs), tobacco barn, or silo. Remains of a lot fence (either board or woven wire) may be found enclosing the outbuildings. Field rock walls, rock piles, and terraces have been recorded in many areas providing evidence of past agriculture. The mountains were considered "open stock range" prior to 1885 when the "stock law" was passed. Functions of individual structures may be difficult to determine at the survey level. Historic records and local informants provide insights. Relative size architectural complexity, artifact content, and structure "lot" orientation are additional techniques for inferring the function of individual structures. The number, size, and complexity of ancillary structures reflect the extent of the agricultural operation. Smaller farms such as sharecropper or tenant farms may only have a barn, while larger farms will have the range of dependencies described here and possibly additional house (domestic) remains that provided habitation space for slaves or hired hands. Although homesites and farmsteads are the most common kind of historic site in the mountain forests, many other activities are represented by physical remains. Logging Operations Evidence of past logging operations is fairly common. Logging camps were constructed in various areas, but they were usually dismantled and moved following exhaustion of timber. Earlier sawmill sites contain rock-lined, rectangular depressions, which held steam boilers, trenches for belts, ash piles, and remnants of slab and sawdust piles. These sites are near water sources. Later sawmill sites are relatively common and contain sawdust and slash piles, sawpits and discarded oil cans, jars, bottles, etc. The main information potential of sawmill sites is their location and evidence of logging activity in a given area. Some of the better-preserved sawmill sites have been protected for interpretive purposes. Mining Operations Mining operations are a common historic site type in the national forests. Several mining areas have been attributed to 16th-century Spanish explorations, although these accounts have not been substantiated. The majority of recorded sites reflect mica mining. These sites range in size from This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. prospecting pits and trenches to extensive quarry areas. Mica has been used as insulation and in place of window glass. A variety of other minerals have been recovered from the mountains, including soapstone, talc, olivine, quartz, feldspar, silver, and gold. Occasionally, mine locations are recorded on U.S. Geological Survey maps. Most of the mines recorded represent poorly documented and undocumented small-scale operations. However, several large mining areas encompassing an entire drainage of nearly 500 to 1,000 acres have been recorded. Water-Powered Mills Less common historic sites include water-powered mill locations (Plate 6). Mills were a common landscape feature of the 19th and early 20th centuries. These mills were often multi-purpose with sawmills, grist mills, and blacksmith shops operating from the same power source. Mills were usually associated with small settlements or villages. Although there are former town and village locations within the forests, most of these settlements were not included in public acquisitions. An exception is the Harmon Den area in the Pigeon River gorge, the location of a town that existed prior to Forest Service obtainment. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.