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Notes of a Botanical Excursion To the Mountains of North Carolina

On the 2d of July [1841] we continued our journey (eleven miles) to Jefferson or Ashe Court House, a hamlet of twenty or thirty houses, and the only village in the county. Intending to make this place our headquarters while we remained in the region, we had the good fortune to find excellent accommodations at the house of Colonel [George] Bower, who evinced every disposition to further our inquiries, and afforded us very important assistance. We may remark indeed, that during our residence amongst the mountains we were uniformly received with courtesy by the inhabitants; who for the most part lacked the general intelligence of our obliging host at Jefferson, and could scarcely be made to comprehend the object of our visit, or why we should come from a distance of seven hundred miles to toil over the mountains in quest of their common and disregarded herbs. Curiosities as we were to these folks, their endless queries had no air of impertinence, and they entertained us to the best of their ability, never attempting to make unreasonable charges...

We botanized for several days upon the mountains in the immediate neighborhood of Jefferson, especially the Negro Mountain, which rises abruptly on one side of the village, the Phoenix Mountain, a sharp ridge on the other side, and the Bluff, a few miles distant in westerly direction. The altitude of the former is probably between four and five thousand feet above the sea; the latter is apparently somewhat higher. They are all composed on Mica-slate; and we should remark that we entered upon a primitive region immediately upon leaving the Valley of Virginia. The mountain sides, though steep or precipitous, are covered with a rich and deep vegetable mould, are heavily timbered, chiefly with Chestnut, White Oak, the Tulip-tree, the Cucumber tree, and sometimes the Sugar Maple. Their vegetation presents so little diversity, that it is for the most part unnecessary to distinguish particular localities. Besides many of the plants already mentioned, and a very considerable number of northern species which we have not room to enumerate, we collected or observed on the mountain sides, Clematis Viorna in great abundance; Tradescantia Virginica; Ris cristata in fruit; Hedyotis (Amphiotia) purpurea, which scarcely deserves the name, since the flowers are commonly almost white; Phlox paniculata? Aristolochia Sipho, without flowers or fruit; Ribes Cynosbati, rotundifolium,... prostratum,... Allium cernuum and tricoccum; Galax aphylla; ligusticum actaeifolium, [ramps] the strong-scented roots of which are eagerly sought and eaten by boys and hogs; The Ginseng, here called "sang" (the roots of which are largely collected, and sold to the country merchants when fresh for about twelve cents per pound, or when dry for triple that price); Menziesia globularis, mostly in fruit; and the showy Azalea calendulacea [honeysuckle or flame azalea], which was also out of flower, except in deep shade.

Other common species are Laurels, which adds vivid color in the mountains in early spring. Lily's of the Valley add their white and native wild flowers add reds, yellows and blues to the forest floors. Native plants, especially flowers, of the Upper New River and especially resistant to cultivation, which makes some of them endangered species. Adding to the endangered status is extensive logging of the forest which has destroyed much of the habitat of the native flora and fauna.

Lewis Preston Summers reported in 1901 the following notes about White top Mountain by Charles Coal:

This is a peak in the Appalachian range, here more familiarly known by the local name of Iron Mountain, and head the point where the three States of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina all unite at a common corner. It is about twenty miles from Abingdon the way the crow flies, though perhaps thirty by the intricate bridle paths through intervening mountains, by which it is approached. Until within a few years comparatively, owing to its inaccessibility, it was almost in its primitive state, and visited only by hunters and trappers, and here and there a "squatter," who may have fled to it fastness to evade those penal enactments which a certain class of men in most communities deem oppressive. It is some 5,000 feet high from base to summit, and upwards of 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. Its summit is a vast field comprising from 300 to 500 acres, without a tree or shrub, and covered with a luxuriant growth of wild grass resembling that of our northwestern prairies, which is highly nutritious and cropped with insatiable avidity by vast heard os stock driven from the neighboring settlements to graze and fatten. During the months of May and June, this field, as well as a large portion of the wooded parts of the mountain, is gorgeously carpeted with wild flowers of every imaginable hue, and so fragrant that their perfume is often wafted a considerable distance on the wings of the wind, which sometimes sweeps across the broad fields like the dying throes of a hurricane, with fitful shrieks of wild and melancholy music.

Bordering this natural field are great numbers of native gooseberry and currant bushes, which yield their acrid fruits in never-failing abundance, and the wild leopard lily, springing from its rocky bed, sways to and fro and scatters its rich perfume as the blast sweeps by.

Upon the very summit, various springs of ice-cold water gush from the rocks and leap down the declivities, babbling their wild music as they disappear among the magnificent rhododendrons and the dazzling crimson of the Indian pink. These water are so pure and light that they never oppress, no matter how freely the thirsty visitor may quaff them.

The field above referred to is bordered by a very singular as well as very beautiful growth of timber, known in that region by the name of Lashorn. Some of these trees grown to an immense height, but generally are not more than from thirty to fifty feet high, and, what is very remarkable, where not crowded they are perfectly flat on top, spreading our to a diameter of from fifteen to thirty feet. It is a species of, and very much resembles, Norway spruce, an ornamental tree often found in the yards of our more elegant city residences. The Lashorn of White Top mountain is peculiar to that locality, and of the thousands that have been transplanted, not one have ever been known to grow, though some have lived several years.... Where the forest of this singular and beautiful growth is dense there is no undergrowth, the trees limbless to the height of forty or fifty feet, the tops intermingling covered with a carpet of lichen moss which feels to the tread as soft and elastic as a sponge. During the summer months those trees are literally alive with snow birds, the little creatures congregating here in millions to build their habitations and rear their young.

Notwithstanding the romantic beauty of this grand elevation, and the exhilarating effects of the highly rarified atmosphere upon the system, hundreds and thousands have lived and died within sight of it without ever having paid it a visit. The reason for this have been the difficulty of access, want of accommodations in the vicinity, and the mere cattle paths by which it is approached through deep and intricate gorges, over steep foot-hills, and through almost impenetrable laurel jungles, sometimes infested by bears, wolves, wild-cats and rattlesnakes. There are but few of these "varmints" there now.

The view from the summit of the White Top is grand beyond description or even conception. Looking toward the south, you have within the scope of vision, stretching away from east to west, the Blue Ridge, which in the dim distance looks like an azure band bordering the horizon, with here and there a tall peak hiding its head in the clouds. To the east, mountain piled upon mountain meets the view, their gentler slopes in places dotted with "clearings" and a column of smoke, here ascending and there lying in long folds along the mountain side, denoting the rude habitation of he ruder "squatter." Looking toward the north you have the grand old Cumberland range, the barrier that divides the "Dark and Bloody Ground" from the Old Dominion, as if swelling up from an ocean of green, and struggling to lift itself above the vapor that hangs lazily upon its sides. To the west the view, though less imposing, is not less beautiful. You have before you the broad valley of the Holston, which, although diversified with hill and dale, bold promontories and pine-clad ridges, still from the altitude from which you look our upon it, has the appearance of a vast sea dotted with picturesque islands. In the distance the spires and tin roofs of the town of Abingdon glisten in the sunlight, large plantations look like blankets spread our in the forest, and at intervals, as it dashes out from behind a bluff, or winds its way through a green pasture, may the White Top Fork of Laurel be seen, like a serpentine thread of silver, its sparkling waters shimmering like diamonds among the foliage and wild flowers upon its bank.

The writer of this has enjoyed the luxury of many a magnificent scenes in his wanderings, but has never seen that from the summit of the White Top excelled, or even equalled. He was there on one occasion when a storm came riding on the blast more than a thousand feet below where a company of gentlemen were standing. The whole valley was shrouded as with a pall. The deep- toned thunder bellowed below, preceded by brilliant flashes of lightning, illuminating the dark bosom of the cloud. The scene was awfully grand, and so far transcends the powers of mortal description, that he would no dare attempt it.

Other stories abound in the oral tradition about panthers, bears, wild cats, bob cats and other predatory animals which were considered a bother to the settler's cattle and sheep. Other animals were in fact more destructive to crops than the predatory animals, such as raccoons, opossums and the like, which were largely ignored by the settlers and were never exterminated like the large game animals.

Numerous writers about the physical attributes of the region have remarked that the inhabitants have become part of the landscape. The symbiotic relationship of man and nature have given the love of land rarely found elsewhere, yet the residents of Appalachia can be and often have been guilty of gross neglect of their environment. Fortunately, the residents of the Upper New River Valley are among the least guilty of crime against nature. Even the environmental problems in the Upper New River Valley are the result of ignorance of good land use policy or economic necessity. Care must be taken to preserve the environment or it follows that the uniqueness of the region will, in large part, be lost for ever. The enduring rural nature of the area makes comprehensive land-use planning difficult, and the key to successful preservation of the natural beauty of the area lies with the common sense of the people of the area, as well as the leaders of the counties, state and nation to develop the resources of the region.