July 30, 2023
The hiking loop from Fontana Dam to Shuckstack Tower, down Lost Cove Loop and return to the trailhead via the Lakeshore Trail is an interesting reminder of the genesis of this region. The modern history of the mountains of North Carolina was marked by several events: the history of Indigenous stewardship and subsequent dispossession, the settlers’ ownership and then subsequent dispossession, the logging companies’ destruction of most everything and then the federal government’s current ownership of the park. These groups’ influences are still felt today; from the names of trails, towns, and counties, to the types of trees growing here. All who have lived here have had to contend with the ruggedness of the land, and have, in turn, shaped the land in their own ways.
The first inhabitants of the Fontana area were Indigenous. “In fact, humans have populated the region for more than 10,000 years. Recovered artifacts link to a civilization called the Mississippian Culture living in the region around 1000 AD.” (1) The Cherokee were “once the largest of all southern tribes, with an estimated population of 25,000 prior to the arrival of European explorers. Believed to be a branch of the Iroquois, the Cherokee Nation included approximately 135,000 square miles in North America and extended from the Ohio River in the north to what is now the state of Alabama in the south.” (2) The community of Cheoah and the surrounding mountains were the center of the Cherokee society. Cheoah is translated as “Otter Town” or “Otter Place” and is located in modern-day Robbinsville, the seat of what is now GrahamCounty. “Other nearby Cherokee towns included Talula, Connicheloe, Gat astu, Tsudayehi, Stecoah, Tuskeegee, Buffalo Town, and Ustanali. These settlements spread through the valleys along the many creeks and rivers that wind through the mountains.” (3)
Following the United States’ ratification of the Indian Removal Act and the genocide of the Cherokee, through what is referred to as the Trail of Tears, the land was colonized by white settlers.
According to History Hikes of the Smokies by Michal Strutin, “[t]he Myers family was one of the largest extended families across the mountain in Cades Cove. Park of the family moved over to the Eagle Creek area and one Will Myers lived up Lost Cove.” “In 1898, Will Myers bought 283 acres in Lost Cove for 15 cents an acre, for a total of $57.45. In 1920, he deeded the timber rights in Lost Cove to all trees above 14 inches in diameter to the Montvale Lumber Company (Montvale)”. (4) The Myers family of the Eagle and Hazel Creek [A]rea by: Judy Gibson Revis and Don Casada has fascinating information regarding the Myers’ family.
Below are pictures of several of Myers’ structures from 1937 found in Open Parks Network, including a house and grist mill.
Logging was the preeminent occupation in Western North Carolina in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hiking, you see gentle reminders of that era: cables, steam engines, cars, and railroad ties. When I see these things, I am reminded of Ron Rash’s excellent book, Serena. Doc Cheney, the logging camp doctor, jokes in a mocking fashion about the violent nature of logging, “If you could gather up all the severed body parts and sew them together, you’d gain an extra worker every month.” Most settlers would make money in the same fashion as the Myers, by selling rights to the timber on their land.
Around the time of the removal of the Cherokee, the arrival of the companies gave us many of the names that exist to this day. “Fontana” is not a Cherokee word, but rather originated from these lumber barons. In particular, Montvale cut many trees in the area. In 1890, the lumbermen pitched tents on the Swain County side of the Little Tennessee River. Among the people scouting was “Mrs. George Leidy Wood, of New York, wife of the executive Vice-President of the Montvale Lumber Company. She spent a great deal of time in this lumber camp and fell in love with the beauty of the area. She and her husband felt the camp should have a name, and it was she who suggested the name ‘Fontana.’” (5) Fontana in Italian means fountain.
The land once at the heart of the Cherokee people, this “Otter Place” was named Graham after a Confederate senator. I did not find the origin of the name “Lost Cove Trail”, but that name dons many places in Western North Carolina, from the town of Lost Cove, to the Lost Cove Wilderness Study Area, to the myriad Lost Cove Creek(s) of the region. The origin of those names is always some version of a steep place disappearing over an edge, or someone becoming, as the name suggests, lost there in the late 19th century.
In hiking and researching all the trails of the Smokies, I have seen this thread play out over and over again. Things really do speak for themselves in the mountains. A man goes hiking, descends into a particularly deep gap, and the name “Deep Gap” is born.
Lost Cove Trail is steep; near the Appalachian Trail, certain segments have a 27% grade. The portion near Will Myers’ home place is particularly lush and level. I did not expect as many creek crossings as Lost Cove threw at me. I enjoyed them but did take my shoes off for several crossings.
This area is so rich in history and tradition. I would want to return to camp and explore it again.
Total mileage is 11.6 miles.
