Bear Hunting In The Smokies, 1909

Originally published in Field & Stream magazine in 1909, this article was written by Horace Kephart, best known for "Our Southern Highlanders" (1913; rev. ed 1922). A "come-here," Kephart loved the mountains and the mountaineers. "Bear Hunting in the Smokies" is a delightful story complete with accurately rendered Appalachian English, tall tales, and howling gales.

Awesome article...

Here is one about the Ca State Mountain Lion Hunter who killed 668 mountain lions in the early 20th century...

http://www.americanhunter.org/ArticlePage.aspx?id=2244&cid=42

Both great stories

Good yarn, well told.

"Wal, who dreamt him a good dream?"

"I did," affirmed the writer. "I dreamt that I had an old colored woman by the throat and was choking dollars out of her mouth "

"Good la!" exclaimed four men in chorus; "you hadn't orter a-told."

"Why? Wasn't that a lovely dream?"

"Hit means a she-bear, shore as a capshootin' gun; but you've done spiled it all by tellin'. Mebbe somebody'll git her today, but you won't – your chancet is ruined."

I didn't get to make a trip into Hazel Creek but I've been into Eagle Creek via Cades Cove and across the mountain at Spence Field several times when I was a teenager. It was my dad, myself, and a family friends yearly back country Trout fishing trip. Here's a good map of the area GSMNP Backcountry Map PDF

Looking at the area south of Cades Cove going by the writers description I would say they were somewhere near Silers Bald or between Thunderhead and Silers Bald to see Clingmans Dome good enough to see a bear. They were also in a cabin definitely on the Appalachian Trail on top of the mountain which is the state line inside the park. A better place to be in a storm than below sometimes especially in a micro-burst storm. If a water ladden cloud can't make it over the mountain it literally crashes into the mountain and dumps. If you happen to be walking in a hollow you can die with very little warning from a wall of water roaring down the side of the mountain. Rare but it happens.

Back in the 1930's by accounts I've read about and what was pased down to me from family who went there it was a totally different looking area than today. The mountains had been timbered off around 1900-1915 thereabouts. Most of today's hiking trails in the park are actually old railroad beds used for logging. In other words the trees were just getting established again in many places when this event would have taken place. The pictures kinda tell the story.

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