The Heart of the Alleghanies; or, Western North CarolinaZeigler, Wilbur Gleason
History
The Heart of the Alleghanies; or, Western North Carolina
Zeigler, Wilbur Gleason
Allegheny Mountains; North Carolina -- Description and travel
Going southward, and crossing the Blue Ridge and Green river, which
derives its name from the tint of its water, we come to the Saluda
range, the fountain of a river of the same name. The word is of Catawba
origin, as is also Estatoa. Toxaway, or more properly spelled Tochawha,
is Cherokee, but we have no satisfactory interpretation of its meaning.
The Balsams are rich in legendary superstitions. The gloom of their dark
solitudes fills even the hurried tourist with an unaccountable fear, and
makes it impossible for him to suppress the recollection of tales of
ghosts and goblins upon which his childish imagination was fed. The
mountains assume mysterious shapes, projecting rocks seem to stand
beckoning; and the echo of cascades falls upon the ear like ominous
warnings. No wonder then, that it was a region peopled by pagan
superstition, with other spirits than human. It is the instinct of the
human mind, no matter what may be its degree of cultivation, to seek an
explanation of things. When natural causes can not be discovered for the
phenomena of nature, the supernatural is drawn upon. The Cherokees knew
no natural reason why the tops of high mountains should be treeless, but
having faith in a personal devil they jumped at the conclusion that the
“bald” spots must be the prints of his horrid feet as he walked with
giant strides from peak to peak.
Near the Great Divide, between the waters of Pigeon river and French
Broad, is situated the Devil’s Court-house, which rises to an altitude
of 6,049 feet. Near it is Court-house mountain. At both places his
Satanic majesty was believed to sit in judgment, and doom to punishment
all who had been wayward in courage, or had departed from a strict code
of virtue, though bravery in war atoned for a multitude of sins.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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