Mountain Passages

Natural and Cultural History of Western North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Photography, Pictorials, History, Fiction & Literature, Essays & Letters, Essays
Cover of the book Mountain Passages by George Ellison, Arcadia Publishing Inc.
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Author: George Ellison ISBN: 9781614230823
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc. Publication: May 1, 2005
Imprint: The History Press Language: English
Author: George Ellison
ISBN: 9781614230823
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Publication: May 1, 2005
Imprint: The History Press
Language: English
"I'm continually intrigued by the manner in which the natural and human histories of any given region overlap and eventually commingle. That process is ongoing, of course, anywhere one chooses to reside, but in no place I've experienced or read about is there a richer context than here in these mountains." This intriguing collection of intertwined essays results from writer George Ellison's thirty-year fascination with Western North Carolina and its Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Gathered into three broad sections--Natural History, Cherokees and Mountaineers--these insightful essays provide a wealth of historic detail and offer a window onto the rich cultural heritage of this stunning and oft-misunderstood part of the country. Through a diverse cast of characters including early explorers and European plant hunters, a Cherokee shaman or two, weather sharps, a hermit, a moonshiner, several writers of note, ornithologists and naturalists, we hear stories in a distinctly Appalachian tone and gain an understanding of mountain life and lore. We develop a new language fit for mountain life, speaking of balds, knobs, gaps, seeps, springheads and shoals, and begin to understand the roots of the names Crooked Arm, Deeplow Gap and the Boogerman Trail. We see the world through the eyes of the ancient Cherokees, for whom the Nantahala Gorge, for example, was a "chasm of horrors" associated with the "uktena," a mythic serpent from the dreaded Under World.
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"I'm continually intrigued by the manner in which the natural and human histories of any given region overlap and eventually commingle. That process is ongoing, of course, anywhere one chooses to reside, but in no place I've experienced or read about is there a richer context than here in these mountains." This intriguing collection of intertwined essays results from writer George Ellison's thirty-year fascination with Western North Carolina and its Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Gathered into three broad sections--Natural History, Cherokees and Mountaineers--these insightful essays provide a wealth of historic detail and offer a window onto the rich cultural heritage of this stunning and oft-misunderstood part of the country. Through a diverse cast of characters including early explorers and European plant hunters, a Cherokee shaman or two, weather sharps, a hermit, a moonshiner, several writers of note, ornithologists and naturalists, we hear stories in a distinctly Appalachian tone and gain an understanding of mountain life and lore. We develop a new language fit for mountain life, speaking of balds, knobs, gaps, seeps, springheads and shoals, and begin to understand the roots of the names Crooked Arm, Deeplow Gap and the Boogerman Trail. We see the world through the eyes of the ancient Cherokees, for whom the Nantahala Gorge, for example, was a "chasm of horrors" associated with the "uktena," a mythic serpent from the dreaded Under World.

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