Mike Maples posted a blog post
Old Settlers Trail - Part One
This first part in a series on the Old Settlers Trail inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is a more detailed historical look as it relates to my last video blog about the area. Also, I wrote a blog a couple years back about the whole OST, but didn't have the map photos that I'm now adding to these blogs.We start with the Indian Camp Branch near the Sevier County and Cocke County line off highway 321. Many of you have hiked up the Park road going to Albright Grove and then on up to Snake Den Ridge or Hen Wallow Falls over to Cosby. I've hiked this area alot over the years because I use to live just off 321 behind Jack's Market and this was a place I always hit when heavy snows hit the mountains.I think of the first families in this area 200 years ago up to the forming of the Park. Where they came from and how they were connected with the mountains. Who the creeks and branches are named after and when they lived here and where did they go?Let's add a map of the lower area I used in the video:This map shows the previous boundary lines, but later all that green area became Park as well near 321 today. The white-green patch work is where the apple orchards were at the time. The Baxter Apple Orchard is still in operation today and just right of where the topo says, trailer park.Cocke County had a courthouse fire on December 30th, 1876 and so many old records are lost. But, using census data and other records from Nashville along with some county records that weren't in the court house at the time we can still get a pretty good picture of who lived where in that time frame.The early owners of this land were Baxter, Canupp, Coleman, Emert, Evans, Grayson, Jenkins, Ramsey, Shults and Whitlock. Later come the Bales, Cole, Fowler, Jones, Justice, Maddron and McGaha families. The Williams, Williamson and Valentine are nearby as well.I was lucky enough to talk with old man Valentine before he passed away about this area. He drove the CCC boys (group from New Jersey) up the road to work on that trail in the video blog. He told me about how he made his living up what was then called Sugar Cove picking ferns by the thousands and selling them to florist up north. Just like grass they would grow back and he told me he built his first home using $300 from the flourists who ordered his mountain ferns. He said, he go up picking ferns and stacking them. Then, when he reached the top of the ridge he use a sack to collect them on the way down and sometimes also fish his way down Indian Camp to his home on 321. He helped me draw my first map of the area and some of the folks who lived here. At the time he was blind, but still told me about it as if he had hiked it just the week before. He hadn't been up there since right before the Park was formed and was to busy he said to go back afterwards. One of his sons became a Park ranger.There is so much stuff here off-trail within the first 3 miles of the OST. But, I'm mostly going to talk about what a hiker should see as they hike the Park trail. Back in the 1930's today's Baxter road didn't exist over to where you park today to start the hike. The old Laurel Springs road looped around from today's Yoga Bear campground and came out near DJ's Market.Another reason I started doing the maps was that some folks asked me to explain where today's park boundaries are located on those maps. Also, the difference in those maps from 1926 upward in time show many different things. Here's the same area from above the Baxter Cabin and I'm showing all the old roads and home places off-trail.I've added "dots" that don't show up on any map where I've found a fallen chimney or old barn location. Since we don't have those early deeds it is interesting to think what those creeks were orginially called. I'm sure Indian Camp Branch was a orginial name because the Indian Camp was talked about in military records, etc. being down below where today's Indian Camp Campground is located towards highway 32. But, we also have Maddern (Maddron) Creek, Jones Creek and Cole Creek.I wonder if the descendants of these folks know that a creek inside the National Park is named for their family? Of course, the Maddron family does because they didn't move far away. But, let's start with the Jones Creek family.If your kin to John Floyd Jones, born 5-2-1814 / 4-15-1893 then this is your family creek where he lived around 1870's to his death. He buried across the road on the county line at the Fowler Cemetery. It took me a little work to research John Jones (how many of those do you think there are?, Ha).John was born in Georgia (maybe Dekalb Co) and first married Lucinda Spence, 1810-1868 whose family had came from Greene County, TN to Georgia around 1810 (Jasper Co., GA) and 1820 moved to Morgan Co., GA. John F. Jones was a CSA soldier enlisted in Cumming Co., GA in 1861 and showed up on a register of officers who were listed as wounded on 6-27-1862 and dead at Battle of Gaines Mill. A note in the list states he hadn't been seen or heard of since 7-31-1862 being wounded and was presumed dead. But, he wasn't dead and shows up with a new wife in Cocke County census 1870 in Newport. Soon, he moves up this Maddron trail and settled on the creek that now has his name. His second wife, Elizabeth Lucretia Umphreys (born in SC) moved with her only son, John, Jr., to Collin Co., TX after John had died in 1893. Maybe, one of his great grandkids will read this blog one day and know where their ancestor lived.Cole creek might be named for a Jackson Cole who was married to a Campbell. His son, William Alex Cole and wife Sarah E. Harrell did live here and the creek is named for them for sure. When the park was formed this Cole family moved to the Red Bank area of Sevier County about 30 miles away from the mountains. W. A. Cole had moved here sometime between 1900-1910 and the Park gave the creek this name. I'm sure all these creeks early on were just called Indian Camp Branch since they all flow into that main creek before reaching 321.Hiking up to the Baxter cabin is always a nice walk in any weather and I use to cut across from behind it through the woods from my home in the mountains. There are rock walls back there and some old trails as well that cut from the old barn across to the Maddron Cemetery (also called Fowler by some) and that was on the old Peggy Canupp and Emert lands. Later on Daniel Fowler whose grandfather Asberry Fowler whom the big Fowler Cemetery is named for off 321 owned a large tract of land here back towards the Baxter apple orchard from the cemetery. At the orchard you had Jesse Preston Baxter 1864-1932 who was married to Mary Florence Canupp 1874-1926. They had a daughter Sarah who was married to a John Reagan and lived near today's Baxter cabin over on Indian Camp Branch.On up past the Baxter Cabin on the left of the trail (not easy to see) is another fallen chimney were one of the old W. A. Cole use to live. I'm pretty sure that the old James H. Maddron married to Ellen Fowler home was at the fallen chimney at the cemetery.Up above the cross-roads of Park trails is where you walk through a small gap in a ridge and where Jones Creek goes under the trail. In the woods to the left about 30 yards is where the Jones use to live. I also found an old trail that went straight up the mountain that I've never finished as it got steep and ugly. I'm sure it goes up and over Snake Den Ridge and was a short cut compared to the trails of today.The lands between Indian Camp Branch and Dunn Creek was dominated by the Ramsey clans. Early on Sam and Martha Ramsey lived near Rocky Grove Road into the Park. He was the son of John and Dosia Ramsey (Ramsey grave off Webb Creek) over the Snag Mountain ridge from this topo. Also, here were William and Eliz Ramsey; George and Martha Ramsey; John and Ann Ramsey; Sam Barnett; Sam and Anna McGaha; William and Ann Baxter; James and Ann Baxter; Robert H. Baxter; and James and Nancy Canupp. Later on, Howard and Eli Branam were on Snag Branch along the OST. This is after you cross Dunn Creek and go past the rock wall and up a small hollow.Today's Park trail switch backs up the Snag Moutain range and heads to a small side branch of Webb Creek. You can find a fallen chimney there at the Park sign that points you in the right direction to continue on the OST. It's behind this fallen chimney and a steep climb to find an old trail (that will disappear quicky in snow once you reach the higher points) and finding that last home place isn't easy neither. The old trail also disappears up in that upper mountain bench. It's where the small branch almost comes back up from the steep gully to being level with your climbing. It's a place that you really should have me or someone whose been there before to hike and find the old CCC trail. But, if you get lost just remember go down hill anywhere to reach the OST. Stay out of Webb Creek for it is very ugly along those waters that high up in the mountains with rhodo, huge fallen trees, and just UGLY.The CCC boys had worked hard on this forgotten trail way up the mountain blasting rocks and supporting the trail with stacks like this one. To bad it wasn't finished.Even this trail gets ugly in places and the wildflowers when Ben and I did it two years ago were amazing. Hard for pictures to do the trees in this area going back to Indian Camp Branch justice. View looking up Albright Grove between Indian Camp and Dunn Creek from the top of what I call, "Little Snag Mountain". That tall pointed knob ridge top you see behind Jacks Market on 321. Yes, I climbed that steep ugly thing, lol. But, I got this photo and that is snow on top of the AT headed towards Old Black Mountain and Mt. Guyot.Enjoy the video and I hope you enjoyed this added history.MikeOff-Trail to lost CCC trail and monster trees Mike Maples Blog Index for Go Smokies See More