THE LAND OF THE CHEROKEES 



By Ovid M. Butler 



Forester, American Forestry Association 



AN expedition, unique in the history of American for- 

 "^^ estry, left Atlanta, Georgia, on the morning of May 

 29, 1922, and moved swiftly northward in the direction 

 of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a caravan, not of 

 canvas-covered, m|lle-drawn wagons with bearded driv- 

 ers, but of glistening, high-powered automobiles bearing 

 a party of more than half a hundred white collared men, ^ 

 bent upon seeing with their own eyes what manner of 

 country Ernest Neal had in mind when he wrote : 

 "Have you heard of the land of the Cherokees, 

 With its wonderful streams and beautiful trees? 

 Of its flowers abloom and the wild perfume. 

 That floats like a bloom on the evening breeze?" 

 The expedition had been organized by the Atlanta 

 Constitution, one of the leading Southern newspapers,/ 

 with the object of unfolding the vast possibilities of the 

 Cherokee and Natahala National Forests in north Georgia 

 as summer recreational areas for the people of Georgia 

 and the nation. Among the party were Congressman 

 Gordon Lee and Thomas Bell, Thos. H. McDonald, Chief 

 of the United States Bureau of Public Roads, James A. 

 Holloman, Washington correspondent of the Constitution 

 Col. F. C. Boggs and Col. G. C. Howell, of the War De- 

 partment, F. W. Reed, District Forester, United States 

 Forest Service, W. R. Neal, Georgia State Highway 

 Engineer, and other representatives of federal and state 

 departments. In addition, there were representatives 

 of the public, a number of foresters who knew the coun- 

 try, a car of boy scouts, a radio unit, moving picture op- 

 erators and a fully equipped repair truck. 



Leaving Atlanta at seven o'clock in the morning, under 

 clear skies and on dry roads, the party was soon in the 



beautiful historical village of Roswell, where it made 

 a brief stop to visit the charming old colonial home of 

 Martha Bullock, set upon a hill among the cedars and 

 the crowding hardwoods. It was here that the mother of 

 former President Roosevelt was born. Codtinuing 

 northward, the expedition sped on through rolling coun- 

 try, the road flanked by cotton fields, some long ago 

 abandoned and now covered by dense young forests of 

 pine. 



Through the villages and the countryside and into the 

 log cabins of the mountaineers for back in the hills, 

 the news of the coming of the party, which would "tell 

 the world" about the beauty and possibilities of the forests 

 of north Georgia, seemed to have swept in advance. At 

 every town and village the populace was assembled on the 

 main squares. Schools were adjourned and healthy, 

 bright-eyed children, intense expectation written on their 

 tanned faces, hung over the fences along the road and 

 waved their greetings; or gathered at the town square 

 with flags and sang "America." 



It was necessary to stop at all these villages to partake 

 bi the receptions extended. There were brief speeches 

 of welcome and refreshments were invariably served. 

 At Cummings, long tables covered with snow-white table 

 cloths, had been set under the trees of the Court House 

 yard. These the women of the town had bountifully 

 loaded with ice-cream, lemonade and a variety of delicious 

 cakes which threatened for a time seriously to delay the 

 expedition. At the home of a Southern planter, whose 

 acres stretched for miles in every direction, the party 

 was stopped and served buttermilk and ginger bread while 

 a band played behind the tall columns of his spacious 



KVE.NI.NG OF THE FIRST DAY BROUGHT THE FOREST TRAVELERS THROUGH A COUNTRY RICH IN BEAUTY, INTO THE SHADOW 



OF YONAH MOUNTAIN 



