Amy's Rear View Mirror

Asheville, NC ...
7/1 - 8/31

 
Michael & Elita Stamp live around here and invited me to come for a visit. I stayed at the KOA - Asheville West. The campground workers are very friendly and helpful. Most of the sites have grass and trees. There's a large dog area which is a field ... they let me take Lady off the leash and let her run. The temperatures rarely got above the 80's during the day and most of the nights were in the 60's. Even though the campground is right next to I-40, I didn't hear much of the road noise at all.

I spent July 4th with Michael, Elita, Elita's daughter Elise, Elise's fiance Jimmy, and Jimmy's mother Martha. We all brought part of the meal and had more than enough food. So what else is new? <g> We tried to watch the fireworks between rain drops and finally gave up and went home.

The next day the motorhome went into the shop for the service I couldn't get in Baltimore. It took a day and a half for them to do all the work and Michael & Elita were kind enough to have Lady & me stay at their house. All the dogs got along well together.

7/7 - Blue Ridge Parkway Drive

Lady & I took an 80 mile drive ... we went south on 151 (just north of the campground off US19) to the Parkway, then south on the Parkway to US-23/74, then back to the campground on US-74 & I-40. We stopped at several of the overlooks and goofed off. At Graveyard Field we walked down to the stream, but not to the falls. Lady was too tired and I didn't want her to refuse to walk like in AZ. It would have been too far to carry her back uphill to the car, so we turned around at the stream and headed back to the car. She slept all the way home and all evening.

7/8 - Cherokee

I left Lady at home and went to Cherokee. I found two really good shops that have traditional, locally made items ... not that made in china replica stuff. I got my brother a Ribbon shirt for his birthday. If it gets to him in time he'll be able to wear it while he dances at Sundance. I got a peace pipe for myself ... I've been wanting one for a long time. They say that your pipe will find you ... when you see it you'll know it's yours. I also found a small Mandella that will fit in the motorhome ... I've been collecting miniatures of the full size items I had in the house.

The most familiar name, Cherokee, comes from a Creek word "Chelokee" meaning "people of a different speech." In their own language the Cherokee originally called themselves the Aniyunwiya which means "principal people" or the Keetoowah which means "people of Kituhwa." The Cherokee are said to be desendents of the Iroquois and originally lived about the headwaters of the Ohio River. Wars with their neighbors over the years caused the Cherokee to move to the southern Appalachian Mountains including western North and South Carolina, northern Georgia and Alabama, southwest Virginia, and the Cumberland Basin of Tennessee and Kentucky. The Cherokee had to defend themselves against warring Creeks to the south, on the west against the Chickasaws and the Shawnees, on the north against the Iroquois. Gold had been found in the Cherokee lands and the Indians without deliberation were forced to leave the tribally occupied lands. It was said the Indian did not need gold and furthermore could hunt upon the level plains. The great movement west popularized as the "Trail of Tears" started in 1838. A good number of Cherokee escaped into the mountains of the Snowbird, Buffalo and Santeetlah area and hid out where a number of their heirs reside today.

There are 2 groups of Cherokees today referred to as Bands... the Western Cherokee Band on the Oklahoma reservation and the Eastern Cherokee Band on the North Carolina reservation.

In North Carolina the 'main reservation' is the Qualla Boundary which to most people is referred to as 'Cherokee'. Of the 5 political townships - Big Cove, Wolfetown, Birdtown, Painttown, and Yellow Hill - located on the Qualla Boundary, Yellow Hill alone is sometimes referred to as 'Cherokee' by Qualla Boundary residents. Some townships have more than one recognized community, each with a different name. The main divisions of Wolfetown are 'Soco' and 'Big Y', while Birdtown is divided into 'Birdtown proper' and 'Thirty-two Hundred Acre Tract', also called 'the Thomas Tract'.

The 6th township which is not located on the Qualla Boundary is 'Cheoah'. The Cheoah reservation lands are scattered into individual tracts of land, not consolidated into a huge land mass like the Qualla Boundary. Cheoah is near what is now Robbinsville, NC where today's Snowbird Cherokee community is located. The traditionalist Cherokees of Snowbird in Graham County assert that Cheoah and Snowbird are synonymous, while the Indians of Tomotla in Cherokee County claim they are also part of Cheoah. The Graham County Indians known locally as the Snowbird Indians like to go by the name by which they call themselves, "Yun-Wiya", which means "real people" since they feel they are still full-bloods today.

The Cherokee Nation is the federally recognized government of the Cherokee people and thereby has sovereign status granted by treaty and law.  The constitution of the Cherokee nation was approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of September 5, 1975, and was ratified by the Cherokee people on June 26, 1976.  The Constitution calls for three branches of government: Legislative, Judicial, and Executive.

Executive In the 1600's, the Cherokee lived in a time of war and peace that called for a dual organization of tribal government: a white, or peace organization, and a red, or war organization. The peace organization consisted of a group of elders, a large portion of whom were priests, who performed both secular and religious functions with primary authority vested in the Great High Priest, a.k.a. the  Peace Chief or Principal Chief who had a principal assistant, a great speaker, and seven councilors representing the seven clans. In addition to administering civil law, peace officials alone owned or had knowledge of the prayers for invoking blessings from the Creator. The war organization consisted of a set of officials who corresponded in rank and duties to the peace officials, except their functions was exclusively military.  Their principal officer was the Great War Chief.  When at was, the military officials held office in government and controlled all government decisions, but could at anytime be overruled by the Peace Chief.  The Cherokee used the color red to signify they were at war. Today, the power is vested in the Principal Chief.  The Principal Chief is responsible for the execution of the laws of the Cherokee Nation, establishment of tribal policy and delegation of authority as necessary for the day-to-day operations of all programs and enterprises administered by the Cherokee Nation Tribal Government.  The Deputy Chief is empowered to act as directed by the Principal Chief.  The Principal Chief and Deputy Chief are elected to four-year terms by popular vote of registered Cherokee voters. Legislative Each township elects 2 representatives to the Eastern Cherokee Tribal Council, the Band's legislative government. In the early 1600's the basic political unit of the Cherokee was the town.  A town consisted of all the people who used a single ceremonial center.  Within each town, a council handled political affairs.  The Cherokee tribe consisted of a number of politically independent towns held together by a common culture, language and history.  No formal political mechanism existed on the tribal level. The Cherokee national capitol was located at Echota in what is now Tennessee.  It was situated on a high mound and was a huge heptagon-shaped building where all  festivals were celebrated, major war parties assembled before going off to war, and from where a measure of control was dispensed to the entire nation. The Cherokee council was comprised of a representative body of the clan system.  In effect, it gave everyone in the community a voice in the national government.  When needed, the local council representatives served on the national council, also giving the local community a voice in the national government. The Tribal Council initiates legislation and conducts other business which will further the interests of the Cherokee Nation and its membership. Judicial In the 1600's and during peace time, the local council and Peace Chief carried out the decisions of local concern.  Often these dealt with civil disputes that allowed the clan system to render judgments. Cherokee law was based on an honor system, in which the spoken word held as much force as, if not more than, today's written contracts.  When an oath was verbally taken on any subject, it was binding.  When this honor system was broken, the clan membership punished the offender.  The entire clan was responsible for the crime of one of its members, and there were no exceptions. The Cherokee were a law-abiding people whose ancient customs served them well, allowing them to maintain social harmony in their towns and a sense of common ethnic identity.  Trust, through oral agreement, was the basis for the original form of Cherokee government.  This proved as binding as any written charter or constitution because of the trust Cherokee people had in one another. Today, the Judicial Branch consists of the Judicial Appeals Tribunal (JAT) and the Cherokee Nation District Court.  The Tribunal, whose members are appointed by the Principal Chief and confirmed by the Tribal Council, is the highest court of the Cherokee nation.  The primary responsibility of the tribunal is to hear and resolve any disagreements arising under the provisions of the Cherokee Nation Constitution or enactments of the tribal Council.  The role of the District Court system is to hear all cases brought before it under jurisdiction of the Cherokee nation judicial code.  A district Judge and an Associate judge preside over court proceedings.

The settlements of central North Carolina spoke the Kituhwa dialect of Cherokee, which is still spoken on the Qualla Boundary today. The settlements of southwestern North Carolina and eastern Tennessee spoke the Atali dialect, which variations are still spoken in the Snowbird Community and in Okalhoma today. The settlements in South Carolina and Georgia spoke the Elati dialect which is now extinct. The Cherokee language is part of the Iroquoian language family.

The family unit is the basis of the Cherokee social organization following the mother ... newly married couples lived with the wife's family. There are 7 Cherokee clans: Deer, Wolf, Bird, Wild Potato, Paint, Blue and Long Hair. Four of the clans were most important: mother's, maternal grandmother's, father's and paternal grandmother's. Cherokees were prohibited from marrying into the first 2 clans and encouraged to marry into either the maternal grandfather's clan or the paternal grandfather's clan. While many people today on the Qualla Boundary aren't aware of their clan affiliation, most Snowbird Cherokees are.

7/14 - Waterfall Scenic Drive

I took a 270 mile waterfall drive going to ...
 

Looking Glass Falls - a 30-foot wide cascade over a sloped 60-foot surface of polished granite (said to be the largest single granite rock in the southern Appalachian Mountains). When the falls become frozen, the surface of the cliffs reflects sunlight to resemble a looking glass.
	Bridal Veil Falls - 120 ft - named because the water looks like a Bride's veil as it falls. The old road goes under the falls and during good conditions you can drive through.
Dry Falls - 75 ft - named because you can actually walk under the falls on a ledge to the other side of the creek without getting wet!

Then I drove past Nantahala Lake through the Wayah Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest on Wayah Road. The Cheoah, Highlands, Tusquitee, and Wayah Ranger Districts form the Nantahala National Forest. Their headquartersare in several mountain communities, situated along the western recesses of the Appalachian Mountains. The Wayah District is located in Franklin, North Carolina. With the exception of Highlands, the other three districts have taken their names from the Cherokee Indian language. Cheoah is the Cherokee word for "otter," Tusquitee is Cherokee for "where the water dogs laughed," and Wayah is Cherokee for "wolf." Even the term Nantahala is a Cherokee Indian word meaning "land of the noonday sun," a fitting name for the deep valleys and gorges where the sun only penetrates to the valley floor when directly overhead at noon.

Wayah Road and NC Hwy 143 have the feeling of Great Spirit I was looking for ... it's not as strong as in Sedona AZ. These roads go through Cherokee Indian Lands.

To end my loop through the mountains I drove on up to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest which is on Santeetlah Lake. Lady & I took a 1.25 mile walk so we could see the memorial in the middle of the park.

A walk through Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is a journey back in time through an untouched forest with towering trees as old as 400 years. Some enormous yellow-poplars are over 20 feet in circumference and stand 100 feet tall. The floor is carpeted with a garden of wildflowers, ferns, and moss-covered logs. The only way to see the forest is on foot. The figure-eight Joyce Kilmer National Recreation Trail covers 2 miles and has two loops: the 1¼-mile lower loop passes the Joyce Kilmer Memorial plaque, and the upper ¾-mile loop swings through Poplar Cove, a grove of the largest trees. Veterans of the Foreign Wars asked the US government to set aside a fitting stand of trees to serve as a living memorial to Joyce Kilmer, who was killed in action during World War I. Although Kilmer was both a solider and a poet, he is most remembered for his poetry about common, beautiful things in nature. Kilmer's best known poem is "Trees."

Trees

"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of Robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."
by Joyce Kilmer.

7/15 - Bunker Hill Covered Bridge

I love looking at old bridges and there's a covered bridge near Claremont NC on US-70 ... it crosses Lyles Creek on the east side of Hickory. The cool thing about this bridge is that it was built in 1895 out of oak planks and trunnels (no nails!) and it's 85 ft long. The only work done on the bridge was to replace the wooden shingle roof with tin in the 1920's. They didn't restore it until 1994, so it lasted 100 yrs with the original construction. Bunker Hill Bridge was part of Island Ford Road, a former Indian Trail. During the colonial period, the road served as a route to transport British prisoners of war after the 1781 Battle of Cowpens.
 

7/21 - Chimney Rock Park

The term augen is the German word for eye and is used in geology to describe eye- or elliptical-shaped minerals in a rock mass. The oval white "eyes," which somewhat resemble hickory nuts, are found in much of the rock exposed in Hickory Nut Gorge, the valley where the Park is located. These "eyes" are said to have given the Gorge its name.

In the middle of Hickory Nut Gorge is a towering granite rock known as Chimney Rock - it looks like a chimney sticking out of the mountain. Indians were probably the first to climb the giant rock, then later some settlers tried. No one knows how many people made it to the summit, but the views of the gorge from the summit are spectacular. In the early 1900's a private citizen bought 64 acres of the mountain, including the summit, so the land could be turned into a park for all to enjoy. Now the park is over 1000 acres and is still owned by descendents of the same family.

Hickory Nut Falls is 404 ft tall on the north side of the mountain.

Moonshiner's Cave - Although there are no records of stills being operated in Moonshiner's Cave, moonshiners were known to have brewed and stored 'shine' in other caves in Hickory Nut Gorge. Farmers always knew they could convert their surplus perishable crops to whiskey for profit.

Parts of the movies, The Last Of The Mohicans, Firestarter, and A Breed Apart were filmed along the trails in Chimney Rock Park.

7/22 - Junaluska's gravesite

Probably the most prominent leader of the Cherokee in Graham County was Junaluska. He had come to the attention of President Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814 when Jackson was leading a force against the Creek Indians. It is generally accepted by historians that Junaluska saved Jackson's life during the battle. The barbarious Creek Indians had secured themselves in the bend of the Tallapoosa River in a curvature resembling a horseshoe. Nature had furnish a situation of defense near impossible to penetrate. To approach it would expose an army into cross fire from the enemy. Junaluska and his warriors swam under the cover of darkness, then with the firing of muskets and rifles to the peninsula, seized the canoes of the enemy and set fire to a few of the buildings. It is said that Junaluska "braved the worst and achieved the most at the telling crisis of the battle."

The great leader went with his people to the Oklahoma land, later returned, walking the entire route back to Graham County. Junaluska continued still to be a leader of his people. After his return, the state of North Carolina gave him a large tract of land in Graham County. In addition to the 337 acres of land, the 1847 North Carolina legislature made Junaluska a citizen of North Carolina and gave him $100.00. The land given to Junaluska now incorporates part of Robbinsville and Mill town. At Junaluska's death the farm was sold.

Junaluska would meet with the Snowbird Indian Council leaders at the Council grounds where he is now buried in the town of Robbinsville. The Cherokee leader died in 1858 after a long and hard struggle to keep his people in the mountains he loved. The story is told that Junaluska was an old and sick man before his death. There was supposed to have been a healing spring used by the Cherokee across the mountain at Citico, Tennessee. Junaluska was on the trail leading to the healing spring when his death took place.

On November 10, 1910, on a ridge within the town of Robbinsville, General Joseph Winston, and the local Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution unveiled a native stone monument in memory of Junaluska. The bronze tablet attached to the stone monument has this inscription "Here lie the bodies of the Cherokee Junaluska, and Nicie his wife. Together with his warriors, he saved the life of General Jackson, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and his bravery and faithfulness, North Carolina made him a citizen and gave him land in Graham County. He died November 20, 1858, aged more than one hundred years. This monument was erected to his memory by the Joseph Winston, Chapter DAR 1910."

7/28 - Linville Falls

Linville Falls is located at Milepost 316.4 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead of several waterfalls on one trail, Linville Falls Recreation Area offers three trails to one waterfall with a total of six different views. Linville Falls is probably the most famous waterfall in the Blue Ridge. It was designated a Natural Heritage Area in 1989.

Linville Falls is a double cascade with a vanishing act between the two falls. The upper falls is wide and gentle, pouring over several shelves for a total of fifteen feet. Here, the river is lazy. Suddenly, the river disappears into a narrow, quartzite channel. Out of sight, it dives sixty feet through a winding chamber before reappearing as the lower falls, a thunderous forty-five foot drop. The force of this powerful river has shaped a large basin with towering cliffs. The river flows out of the pool, leaves the recreation area, and enters the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area.

The headwaters of the Linville River are on Grandfather Mountain, and the river flows to the Catawba Valley through one of the most rugged gorges in the country. The sheer rock walls of Linville Mountain (west) and Jonas Ridge (east) confine the water for twelve miles while it descends two thousand feet. The difference in elevation between the rim and river is about fifteen hundred feet.

The Cherokees called the area “Eeseeoh,” which meant river of cliffs. Settlers called the river and the falls “Linville” to honor the explorer William Linville, who in 1766 was attacked and killed in the Gorge by Indians.

8/11 - Whitewater Falls

Elita, Lady and I took a ride to see Whitewater Falls and had lunch in Cashiers. Most of the Whitewater River (Charashilactay) is already protected as part of the Nantahala National Forest. It's also the most well-known river in the area, because of Upper Whitewater Falls (Thronateska or Contara). At 411 feet, Whitewater Falls is the tallest waterfall in the Eastern United States and is designated a North Carolina Natural Heritage Area.

Upper Whitewater Falls is easily accessible and the walk to the overlook is short. Then there's a staircase to another overlook which is a bit closer to the falls.

If you hike to the bottom of the gorge from the overlook, you'll encounter a steel and concrete bridge across the river, which will lead you to a stream that feeds the Whitewater only a few yards downstream.  Just before the Whitewater River spills into Lake Jocassee, it goes over another huge drop, Lower Whitewater Falls.  This waterfall is very nearly as impressive as the upper falls, and is in South Carolina.

8/19 - The Blowing Rock

According to legend, a Chickasaw chief wanted to protect his beautiful daughter from the attentions of white men encroaching on Chickasaw territory in the Midwest. So the chief and his daughter, Wauhonhassee, moved from the Great Plains to the Blowing Rock, home of the eastern Cherokee (and, at the time, free of whites). One day, Wauhonhassee was sitting on jagged Blowing Rock when she noticed a handsome Cherokee brave below. To get his attention, she flirtatiously shot an arrow near him. Though the arrow missed the brave, apparently his heart was pierced by the beautiful Wauhonhassee. They became devoted lovers, wandering the mountains, fishing in the streams, and spending their days in happy idyll.

Then one day the maiden and the brave noticed a mysterious reddening in the sky. They both went to Blowing Rock for a clearer view of this strange event. The brave realized it was a sign of trouble, commanding him to join in a war in the Great Plains. Knowing she might not see her beloved again, the beautiful maiden begged him not to leave her. Standing on the Blowing Rock as he struggled between duty and his devotion to Wauhonhassee, the brave opted for a surprise third choice: he threw himself off the edge of the cliff.

Wauhonhassee remained at the Blowing Rock for days in fervent and tearful prayer to the Great Spirit. Finally, one evening, her prayers were answered-the sky reddened as it had before, and a great gust of wind blew her beloved brave, unharmed, back up onto Blowing Rock and into her arms. From that moment on, the legend says, that same strong wind has blown perpetually on this rock from the Johns River Gorge below.

8/21 - Chimney Rock Park

I took an afternoon off work and went to Chimney Rock Park with Michael & Elita.
It was much better weather than when I had gone last month. And was much more fun with friends.

We had several more suppers together at the campground, at Michael & Elita's, and at Elise's during my stay. Some of the things I made were Steaks with Baked Potatoes and Grilled Veggies, Beef BBQ with Slaw, Apple Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie, and Grilled Pizza.

One afternoon Michael & I played Pente for a few hours. And several evenings they came over to watch a movie, which sounds especially good now that I've got the rear speakers working.

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