Great Smoky Mountains National Park [antikvár]

THE GREAT SMOKIES the most popular National Park in America - 800 square miles of territory - about 60 miles in length, 20 miles in width that straddles the West border of North Carolina and East border of Tennessee.A magnificent location of Vacation Land for the crowded East of our Nation. Seven million visitors a year - seventy thousand a day - more than twice the number that visit any other national park in America.AND YOU MAY WONDER, WHY?Our geologists tell us that over two hundred million years ago, there was a great upheaval of the Earth's surface in this Appalachian area and the Great Smokies was formed from a shallow sea.For these millions of years, erosion of water and wind did its work. Valleys and slopes which exist today were formed - and now we have 16 peaks over 6,000 feet and 53 over 5,000 feet in height. The valleys range from a low point of 857 feel at Abrams Creek on the West and ascends in a broken array of valleys and peaks to a height of 6,642 feet at Clingmans Dome, the highest mountain in the park.All this forms a panorama of beauty. Within its borders you will find deep gorges, gentle slopes, rapid streams, clear pools, jagged rocks, great forests and rich meadows.Plant life is in profusion. You will find 1,300 kinds of flowering shrubs and plants, 130 different kinds of trees, nearly 30 varieties of orchids and grasses of all kinds. Nourished by a rich soil, a heavy rainfall (about 80 inches), and the sun of our most temperate zone makes the area of this park one of the most luxuriant of the World the Kashmir, The Shangri-La of America.This profuse growth of vegetation (being close packed Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel) combines with the oil of the pines to exude an aroma and a vapor that rises and mixes with the feathery fleece of the fog. It clings to the top of the mountain and sinks to the Valley below and you have the Smokies, and the reason for the name The Great Smoky fvlountains National Park.It is no wonder that our feathery friends, the fish that like clear waters and the animals of the hillsand glens come to this park and join with us, the People, in making this park their haven and refuge.? ?????Let us tell you how the Smokies became one of our National Parks. As you may know, most all of our other parks were set aside from government lands and before the private individual could claim any ownership therein.However, with the Smokies it was different. For years its land was owned by private individuals and lumber companies as it contained one of the finest spreads of lumber in the United States. Spruce, fir and hemlock oak, walnut and other fine woods grew straight and tall. Then came the devastating forces of man in his search for the dollar. Private enterprise in the form of saw mills was beginning to destroy one of the most beautiful wilderness areas of the nation.Lucky for all of us, one of the reasons we are a great nation and people is that in time of need there has always been an individual who has come to our rescue. In this case a woman, Mrs. Willis P. Davis of Knoxville, Tennessee, realizing the grandeur of the area started a movement to change the entire complex to a National Park.Others followed and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (a member of a family that has, and is still giving millions to areas where there is need and where the public welfare may be enhanced) contributed $5,000,000.00. This amount was added to funds from State, Federal and Private Sources and the lands of the Smokies was purchased and given to the Federal Government. On September 8, 1940, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park became a reality when it was formally dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.Yes, the great lumber camps of the Smokies were stilled and the wealth of this area was channeled to a place of relaxation, a place of beauty, a place of refuge to all who may come.And this America our home, the home of over two hundred million people like us was taught the lesson,"There are times when we must call a halt to the destruction of our natural resources we must give nature a chance, for in her grand design she has built peaks and great gorges, and peaceful valleys, clear lakes and rapid streams. These just don't belong to us, but to others who may come and we must keep this grand design unspoiled."The Peace in these Hills and Valleys is a Peace that unravels our knitted brow and quiets the nerves of our hand and restores in us the zest to live.Then we will behold the misty crown of the Great Smokies. Surrounded by the beauties of Nature in her various robes of color white, green-blue, and blue-gold, and patterns of red and brown constantly changing by the rays of the sun and the shadows, she gives you a new dedication of service and there will come to you a feeling of exaltation for you were there.GROTTO FALLS on Roaring Fork is a reward to by John Lockeanyone who walks the easy IVz mile trail fromthe parking area on the Motor Nature Trail near [ Gatlinburg, Tenn. This serene falls truly deserves S its name which means a cool and pleasant cave. One may walk behind this falls and remain dry published and distributed by Aerial Photograpliy Services incexcept for a delightfully cooling Spray On a hot2300 Dunavant St Charlotte, N.c. 28203summer afternoon.Photo credits by Jim Doane and John Earldp