Our Southern Highlanders - Setting

Setting

Hazel Creek originates on the slopes of Silers Bald in the Great Smoky Mountains and drops 4,000 feet (1,200 m) over its 18-mile (29 km) route to the Little Tennessee River, draining much of the southwestern part of the range along the way. The village of Medlin was located where modern Haw Gap Branch ("Haw Creek" on old maps) empties into Hazel Creek (the townsite is now Campsite 84 at the junction of Jenkins Ridge Trail and the Hazel Creek Trail). Kephart's cabin was located along Little Fork, a tributary of Sugar Fork, the latter in turn being a tributary of Haw Gap Branch. In 1904, the nearest railroad depot was 16 miles (26 km) away at Bushnell, a small town at the confluence of the Tuckasegee River and the Little Tennessee (now submerged by Fontana Lake).

Part of Our Southern Highlanders takes place atop the main crest of the Western Smokies between Gregory Bald and Silers Bald, which at the time was coated by a series of highland meadows used as livestock pastures during the growing season when bottomlands were needed for crops. Each pasture had a respective cabin for its summertime herdsman, namely (from west to east) the Russell cabin at what is now Russell Field, the Spencer cabin at what is now Spence Field, Hall cabin atop what is now Big Chestnut Bald (in the vicinity of the modern Derrick Knob shelter), and a cabin at Siler's Meadow (just off the summit of Silers Bald). The Hall cabin mentioned often by Kephart should not be confused with the Hall cabin presently located at the end of the Bone Valley Trail, although both were built by Jesse "Crate" Hall.