In 1818, John Oliver and his family were the first white settlers to move into Cades Cove. Other settlers soon followed and began clearing land and farming. John Mingus, who built the Mingus Mill, and Ralph Hughes settled on the Oconaluftee in 1795. Their descendants make up most of the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, based in Cherokee, North Carolina, and their Qualla Boundary reserve to the south of the park.Ĭlearcut logging in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee, 1936 A band on the Oconaluftee River acquired land and also remained. For a period some, led by such warriors as Tsali, evaded removal by staying in the area now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Particularly because of their pressure to acquire land in the Deep South, in 1830 President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, beginning the process that eventually resulted in the forced removal of all Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Their first encounters with Europeans were as traders, mostly coming from the colonial Carolinas and Virginia.Įuropean Americans did not begin to settle here until the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The historic Cherokee had their homeland here, and occupied numerous towns in the river valleys on both sides of the Appalachian Mountains. History įor thousands of years, this region was occupied by successive cultures of indigenous peoples. Tourism to the park contributes an estimated $2.5 billion annually into the local economy. Major attractions include Dollywood, the second-most visited tourist attraction in Tennessee, Ober Gatlinburg, and Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. Īs the most visited national park in the United States, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park anchors a large tourism industry based in Sevier County, Tennessee adjacent to the park. The park was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, and an International Biosphere Reserve in 1988. The Great Smoky Mountains was the first national park having land and other costs paid in part with federal funds previous parks were funded wholly with state money or private funds. The park was chartered by the United States Congress in 1934, and officially dedicated by President Franklin D. In addition, the park also preserves multiple historical structures that were part of communities occupied by early European-American settlers of the area. The park is internationally recognized for its mountains, waterfalls, biodiversity, and forests. Highway 441 ( Newfound Gap Road) in the towns of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina, and also in Townsend, Tennessee. The main park entrances are located along U.S. The park encompasses 522,419 acres (816.28 sq mi 211,415.47 ha 2,114.15 km 2), making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States.
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