| The Heart of the Alleghenies | |||
| Chapter 10 - A Zigzag Tour | |||
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| A ZIGZAG TOUR The Mountains as a Summer Resort -- On the Western North Carolina Railroad -- Sparkling Catawba Springs -- Glen Alpine -- Marion -- Asheville - Romantic Drives -- Turnpike -- Arden Park -- Hendersonville -- Flat Rock -- The Ante-War Period --Caesar's Head -- Brevard -- A "Moonshine" Expedition -- A Narrow Escape -- How Illicit Whisky is Sold -- Along the French Broad -- An Excited Countryman -- Marshal -- Warm Springs -- Shut-in Gap -- Paint Rock -- A Picture of the Sublime |
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| page 333 | "Within comparatively late years the dissipation of this false impression has begun; and other ideas than hot, sultry skies and oppressive air have been associated in the minds of an initiated few with the contemplation of a journey to North Carolina." |
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| page 334 | "...by comparison of the table of mean temperatures with observations taken throughout the United States and Europe, the climate of Asheville is found to be similar to that of Venice, being the same in winter, and varying not more than two degrees in any of the other seasons." ;railroad lines into Western North Carolina |
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| page 335 | "The road leading from Hickory to Catawba Springs, is so level and well worked that less than an hour need be occupied in the journey. Rolling fields of corn, cotton and tobacco, alternating with forests of pine, oak and hickory, line the way. On the right the distant view is bounded by the horizon obliquely resting upon an undulating surface; on the left by the ever changing outline of mountain peaks, twenty to forty miles distant." |
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| page 336 | "Every resort has its sunrise views, its sunset views, its lover's walks and lover's retreats, flirtation corners and acceptable glens. All these places at Catawba springs are at proper distances, and conveniently secluded." |
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| page 337 | "Overlooking the Catawba valley, the Blue Ridge and its spurs are seen in perfect outline all the way from Hickory Nut gap to Watauga. Above and beyond the Blue Ridge several peaks of the Blacks may be counted, and far in the distance on a clear sky will be distinguished the hazy outline of the Roan. There is a mineral spring in the vicinity of the hotel, which is the attraction for many people afflicted, but by far the largest number of guests are pleasure seekers."; Morganton; Glen Alpine |
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| page 338 | "It is from this point that most commercial
travelers drive to reach their customers at Burnsville,
Bakersville and other points in Yancey and Mitchell counties.
Sightseers, going to the Roan, fishermen and hunters, to the Toe or Cane
river wildernesses, may leave the railroad at this point with
advantage....Leaving Marion, heavy grades, deep cuts, and a tunnel
remind the traveler that he has entered the mountains." [Illustration] ON THE BLUE RIDGE. |
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| page 339 | "Of course the railroad had to be constructed on a more circuitous route, which was found by following the general course of a mountain stream, rounding the head of its rivulets, and cutting or tunneling sharply projecting spurs. At two places, a stone tossed from the track above would fall about 100 feet upon the track below..."; Swannanoa valley |
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| page 340 | "In the center of the widest portion of that
great plateau, watered by the French Broad and its tributaries, is
situated the city of the mountains --Asheville, the county-seat of
Buncombe. To obtain some idea of the location of the place, picture to
yourself a green, mountain basin, thirty miles in breadth, rolling with
lofty rounded hills..." "You see a picturesque grouping of heavy, red buildings, dazzling roofs, a great domed court-house, a white church spire here and there, humble dwelling clinging to the hill-sides, and pretentious mansions amid fair orchards on the green brows of hills; yellow streets, lined with noble shade trees, climbing the natural elevations, sinking into wide, gentle hollows, and disappearing utterly..." |
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| page 341 | "If it is a clear, sunny day, the beauty of the scene will be indescribable: the city on its rolling hills, the deep valley beyond, and, far away, Pisgah (a prince among mountains), the symmetrical form of Sandy Mush Bald, and between them, distant thirty miles, the almost indistinct outlines of the majestic Balsams. A transparent sky, a mellow sunlight, and that soft air, peculiar to this country, which covers such a delicate purple tinge the distant headlands, add their charms to the landscape." |
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| page 342 | "There are few towns in the United States which, for natural advantages, combined with number of population, and pleasant artificial surroundings, can compare with Asheville. Besides advancing in commercial and manufacturing importance, Asheville will, at no late date, be spoken of as the city of retired capitalists." |
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| page 343 | "With the present speedy and convenient way of reaching it, the influx of new-comers increases with every season. Every day during the months of July, August, and September, when the season is at its height, the business portion of Asheville resembles the center, on market days, of a metropolis of twenty times the size of the mountain town." |
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| page 344 | "There is a rich pulseless quiet along this river road that is truly delightful. At places the vista is of striking tropical character. The brilliant trees, their flowing green draperies, the seemingly motionless river! If you have time, you can follow on for miles until where the waters are noisy, the bed shallow, rhododendrons and kalmia fringe its banks and the gradual rise of the country becomes perceptible." |
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| page 345 | "As late as 1882, the stages pursuing this road were the only regular means of conveyance from Asheville to Marshal and Warm Springs. The road was as rough as it was picturesque." |
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| page 346 | "The trip from Asheville to Hendersonville, Caesar's Head, and the mountains of Transylvania should not be omitted by the tourist."; Arden Park |
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| page 347 | "Hendersonville is the hub of the upper French
Broad region. This prosperous village, the second in size west of the
Blue Ridge, is situated on the terminus of a ridge which projects into
the valley of the Ochlawaha, and overlooks a wide stretch of low bottom
lying within a circle of mountains." "The town has a cheerful appearance." |
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| page 348 | "There seems to be a harmony of effort among the citizens to make the stay of strangers pleasant, by furnishing them both information and entertainment." |
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| page 349 | "The Spartanburg and Asheville railroad at present terminates at Hendersonville. It is partially graded to Asheville, and there is some prospect of its early completion." |
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| page 350 | "The magnificence of the ante-war period is no longer maintained; the number of aristocratic families has decreased, and some of the residences show the dilapidations of time; yet a refined and sociable air pervades the place, which, with the recollections of the past, makes it an interesting locality to visit."; Flat Rock |
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| page 351 | "Buck Forest hotel is an old-fashioned frame house, situated in the midst of wild and inviting scenery. The traveler will recognize the place by the sign of an immense elk horn on a post, and by a line of deer heads and buck antlers under the full length veranda."; Buck Forest; Little River; Caesar's Head |
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| page 352 | "Every attention was bestowed upon me, and a short time after I was in as agreeable a condition as I have ever been before or since. In the journal for the day, written up that evening, is this concluding sentence, which I had no inclination to change afterwards: 'This establishment is managed by a man who knows his business, and is liberal enough to give his guests what they have a reasonable right to expect."; Caesar's Head. |
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| page 353i | [Illustration] BOLD HEADLANDS. Table Rock and Caesar's Head. |
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| page 355 | "A strong imagination is required to see any resemblance in the profile to a man's head, much less to a Roman's of the heroic type. We are inclined to believe the story told by a mountaineer. An old man in the vicinity had a dog named Caesar, whose head bore a striking resemblance to the rock, and being desirous to commemorate his dog, the appellation, 'Caesar's Head,' was given to the rock." |
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| page 356 | "Brevard, the capital town of Transylvania, is a center from which to make several short journeys to scenic points." |
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| page 357 | "One afternoon, during a deer drive through the wilds and over the rugged heights of the Tennessee Bald, I advanced far enough in my month's acquaintance with a fellow, Joe Harran, to learn that he was formerly a distiller, and even then was acting as a carrier of illicit whiskey from a hidden still to his neighbors." |
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| page 358 | "I reckon ye'll do, tho ye don't look ez rough ez ye mout ef yer har war long; but pull the brim o' the hat down over yer eyes, an' I 'low when I tell 'em yer a 'stiller from Cocke county, over the line, they'll believe hit, shore." |
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| page 359 | "The expedition we were on was bad enough, but horse-stealing was a crime of too positive a kind. Of course I knew Harran only intended to borrow the horse for the evening, but if we were caught with the animal in our possession, and going in an opposite direction from the owner's farm, what was simply a misdemeanor, might, from attendant circumstances, be construed into a crime to which no light penalty was attached." |
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| page 360 | "Suddenly I heard a coarse laugh, then caught a glimmer of fire-light, and by its blaze, for the first time in my life, I saw the mountain still of an illicit distiller. We paused for a moment and Harran whistled three times shrilly. 'All right. Come ahead!' yelled some one. A minute later, obedient to this return signal, we had stopped at our destination. The ravine had narrowed and the sides were much steeper and higher. The place was well shut in. An open shed, roofed, and with one side boarded, stood before us." |
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| page 361 | "Within it was a low furnace throwing out the light of a hot fire. Over the furnace was a copper still, capable of holding twenty-five gallons. Several wash-tubs, a cold water hogshead, and two casks, evidently containing corn in a diluted state, stood around the roof. Close to this still-house was a little log cabin. The two distillers, who greeted our arrival, ate and slept within this latter domicil. The smoke from the still curled up through the immense balsams and hemlocks that almost crossed themselves over the top of the ravine." |
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| page 362 | "It was all sold on the spot at from seventy-five cents to one dollar per gallon, according to the price of corn. Those who came after the liquor, came, as we had, with jugs, and thereby supplied the tipplers in the valley, usually charging a quarter of a dollar extra for the trip and back --nothing for the danger incurred by dealing in it." |
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| page 363 | "'I knoe thet man thar is no kin o' yours, Joe Harran. He's cl'ar too fine a sort fer thet, and ef ye don't prove to me thet he haint a revenoo and ye haint a sneak, I'll shoot him first an' then turn ye adrift on the same road.'" |
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| page 364 | "He filled the jug and four others on the way down. All had money with them, either inside or lying on the corn-cob stopper. It was a cash business. At the proper place he turned the filly in the barn lot, and a few minutes after we were at my boarding-house. Before we parted for the night --it was almost daylight --I reckoned up for him his account of purchases and sales for the expedition. He had a profit in his favor of two dollars and a quarter, and a little more than a gallon of the 'dew.' All I had gained was experience." |
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| page 365 | "On the same trip, while we were rounding a bend below Warm Springs, the hat of a passenger who was standing on the rear platform, was blown from his head. The train was stopped for a time to allow the unfortunate man to run back and find the relic. He searched until he found it and then regained his place." |
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| page 366 | "The old man, smoking his pipe of home-cured tobacco, and daily seated on the veranda, has not yet become so familiarized with the vision of the iron horse and whirling coaches as to abandon his custom of walking to the gate as the train draws in sight." |
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| page 367 | "Something interesting is to be found in the picturesque village of Marshall....Its growth is stunted in a most emphatic manner by these apparently soulless conspirators --the river, mountain, and railroad. The three seemed to have joined hands in a determination regarding the village which might read well this way: 'So large shalt thou grow, and no larger!' ...Sites for dwellings, in limited numbers however, can still be stolen on the steep mountain side above the town. Such a location is unfavorable for a man whose gait is unsteady; for a chance mis-step might precipitate him out of his front yard, with a broken neck." |
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| page 368 | "The temperature of the water is from 102° to 104° Farenheit. The baths are invigorating and contain remarkable curative properties, especially beneficial for rheumatic, gouty, and chronic invalids of all classes. The water, although highly impregnated with minerals, is tasteless. These springs were discovered in 1785, by a company of Tennessee militia, while in pursuit of a band of Cherokee warriors." |
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| page 369 | "As early as 1786 invalids came here to try
the effect of the water. Now, in the height of the summer, as many as
six hundred guests at one time crowd this fashionable resort." ; Warm
Springs [Illustration] CASCADES, NEAR WARM SPRINGS |
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| page 370 | "At the first bridge below the Springs, Nature has wrought a terrific picture of the sublime. The river runs white-capped and sparkling below; the wild tremendous fronts of rocky mountains, seared with ravines frowning with precipices and ragged with pines, close around. Bending in sharp curves, the railroad penetrates the picture, leaps the long iron bridge and disappears." |
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| page 371 | Table of Altitudes |
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