THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Focusing on the
Chattahoochee- Oconee National Forests
Woodman, spare
that tree!
Touch not a
single bough!
In youth it
sheltered me,
And I'll
protect it now.
These lines
from poet George Pope Morris [1802- 1864] might well have been written
in protest to the widespread devastation of virgin forests that existed
in the nineteenth century as trees were felled for lumber to supply the
demand for building better houses. People wanted nicer dwellings than
the log cabins that characterized the early-settlement period of our
mountain lands.
As we saw the
life and times of Jim Berry, last of the "true mountaineers" in the
last two columns here, we learned that he was an employee of the
Vogel-Pfister Land Company that dealt mainly in harvesting trees for
timber in the Southern Appalachians.
Following the
Civil War, a proliferation of timber harvesting occurred in this
mountain region. The work of cutting trees and getting them to sawmills
set up on streams provided much-needed employment. Very little
attention was given to environmental practices and preserving the land
or its forests. Large land companies, with an eye for the timber
market, bought up lands the early settlers had received in either gold
lots or land lots. The lands were cut over and many chestnut, oak, and
hemlock trees yielded bark for tanning businesses and lumber for
houses. It was a perilous time for mountain forests. The mountain
landowners, many owing taxes on their acreage, sold land for as little
as $1.00 per acre. Capitalists took advantage of a poverty-level
situation and amassed land once rich with virgin timber. The plea of
Morris's poem, "Touch not a single bough!" went unheeded. Former
farmers sought refuge in the "lumber camps" that sprang up. There they
found shelter and subsistence wages.
Erosion set in.
Wildfires were prevalent. With forest deadenings widespread, floods
came, with nothing to prevent the water from taking the topsoil in
formerly productive farmlands. It was a sad and ruinous time. A voice
was heard among all the destruction. His name was Gifford Pinchot, one
of the first environmentalists. He urged that government and citizens
do something about the "burned, slashed, and over-grazed forest."
President Theodore Roosevelt stepped in, and in 1901 he ordered that
"the preservation of the mountain forests should no longer be left to
the caprice of private capital."
The famous
Weeks Act was passed in the US Congress on March 1, 1911. In this Act,
the U. S. Department of Agriculture was authorized to purchase lands
that had been cut over and denuded. Gifford Pinchot's pleas had been
heard. The slow process of restoration was set in motion. It did not
happen quickly, for growing trees takes time. Restoring natural
resources is a slow process.
Out of the
Weeks Act grew the National Forest Service Reservation Commission. In
1911, large tracts of mountain land, about 31,000 acres in all, in
Union, Fannin, Lumpkin and Gilmer Counties were purchased for $7.00 per
acre. The seller was the Gennett Land and Lumber Company of Atlanta,
Georgia. The purchase became official on August 29, 1912. A small
portion of the lands acquired by the National Forest Service still had
stands of virgin timber, but most of the land had been cut-over,
cleared, or desecrated through careless industrial cutting and logging.
Another aspect
of this era of mountain history shows a decline in population. For
example, Union County statistics reveal that population dropped over
ten percent from 1900 through 1910. Due to the ecological changes
brought about by environmental excesses, people had to leave to find
work elsewhere. The poor mountain farms could not support the
population. The "westward" movement to Colorado and other western
states and influx to manufacturing towns like Gainesville, Dalton and
Atlanta accounted for the population decrease.
The Gennett
Purchase began the stewardship of forest lands that would eventually
lead to formation of the Chattahoochee National Forest in 1936. At
first, these lands were incorporated into the Cherokee and Nantahala
National Forests in Tennessee and North Carolina. Gifford Pinchot's
pleas were being heeded. Goals were set for reforestation, planting of
new trees. Management of soil, water and wildlife were incorporated
into the plan.
Two important
names emerge in this early period of National Forest management. Ranger
Roscoe Nicholson was the first Forest Ranger in the North Georgia
Region. His area was the Tallulah Ranger District. Ranger Arthur Woody
of Union County also made a name for himself as he was employed by the
Forest Service. They patrolled with an iron will. They used trained
bloodhounds to trace down forest arsonists. The first fire towers were
built by them and the men they employed—Union County's at Brasstown
Bald. Ranger Woody used his own money to stock streams with trout and
the forests with deer when these were not forthcoming from Forest
Service funds. Ranger Nick and Ranger Woody were brave pioneers who set
the pace for later practices that were expanded and enforced.
Credit is due
President Franklin Roosevelt's programs to help the nation recover from
the Great Depression that began in earnest in October of 1929. During
his presidency, beginning in 1932, his "Alphabet Projects" tackled the
job market and supplied workers for needed efforts to bring America
back into competitive production. The Civilian Conservation Corps was
organized in 1933. Camp Woody near Suches and the
[Ethelene
Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and
historian. She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@windstream.net; phone
478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
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