Our local woods in Graham County are full of history, much more than many might think.
For years now, Hoot Gibbs and I have prowled the woods, looking for what we refer to as forgotten bits of history. We might be looking for an old home site, a forgotten grave, an old overgrown road or trail, or something else pertaining to the early history of the area.
Many times what we are looking for may be miles back in the woods where there is no trail, but requires “hitting the brush” to get to them. Some of these we found ourselves; others were told to us or shown by other persons.
The list would include:
* Locating almost all of the original Trail of Tears by using a copy of an old U.S. Army map of the trail that Hoot found.
* The burial mounds of some 400 Cherokees who died in a small pox epidemic in the 1700’s. We followed directions that were passed to Roger Smoker by Mose Wachacha.
* A tunnel built in 1887 by Belding Lumber Company in the Big Snowbird area.
* The remains of a log cabin built by John Denton in Joyce Kilmer Forest, the only white people to ever live there. This was first shown to me by Gudger Buchanan.
* The single grave of two young boys, John Stratton and Tom Mashburn killed on Oct. 3, 1864 by bushwhackers during the Civil War in the Rock Creek – Goldmine area. The grave was first shown to me by Dale Holder.
* There are several graves of children who died from Milk Sick Fever prior to 1916 in Eller Cove. Milk Sick fever was caused by cattle eating a plant known as White Snake Root. It contained a toxin called tremetol. It is passed from cows to humans in the milk and is often fatal to infants and young children. The graves were shown to me by Bebo Miller.
* A young man by the last name of Blanton either hung himself or was hanged by others during the Civil War on what is now Atoah Circle. The site became known as Hanging Cove and is said to be haunted. The grave was shown to me by Ray Worley.
* There is some strange writing on a rock on Hooper Bald: “Predarms Casada,” dated Sept. 1615. It was first shown to me by Gudger Buchanan.
* The grave of Cheesequire – a Cherokee Indian said to have lived to the age of 137 – is located on a ridge top near the Ground Squirrel Branch area.
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Readers may find it difficult to believe that this is only a partial list.
We feel that we have just barely scratched the surface of Graham County history. Perhaps someone will continue it after
Hoot and I are no longer able to do it, or have become a part of history ourselves.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star.