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GALLERY #9
Archaeological evidence points to
human habitation in the Blacks for at least
10,000 years. On the flood plain of the Swannanoa River, the ancestors of the
Cherokee and possibly other Southeastern tribes resided in a palisaded village.
They farmed the rich soil and hunted bear, deer, elk and bison. ©1998 Ben
Walters
No human burial or known sacred sites are photographed
or excavated during the
course of this dig.
Out of state timber companies
devastated the vast majority of the native
southern hardwood & spruce-fir forests. Despite a vocal outcry at this mountain
apocalypse, little could be done until most tracts of land were logged out and
the
logging companies moved out of region. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service
Evidence of railroads abounds in the
National Forests of the region. Timber
companies pulled tracks after an area was logged but the sculpted grades remain.
The first land purchase for the National Forest system (1911) was in the Mackey
Mtn.
area of the Black Mountains. In 1996-97 Rob Messick found what he estimates to
be
"5000 acres of contiguous uncut forest" here. This tract undoubtedly contains
one of the largest stands of old growth forest in the South. Photo courtesy U.S.
Forest Service
Last Updated
01/22/09.
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