DISCOVER COCKE COUNTY 2021

DISCOVER Cocke County V o l u m e 2 - 2021

Experience The Cowboy Life At The French Broad Outpost Ranch Explore Our Roots At The Newport-Cocke County Museum Walk On The Wild Side At Briarwood Ranch Safari Park Cocke County History

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Discover Cocke County 2021

DISCOVER Cocke County

Discover Cocke County is published by The Newport Plain Talk 145 East Broadway | Newport, TN 37821 423-623-6171

MANAGEMENT Duane Uhls Publisher & Editor Matt Winter Assistant Editor

CONTRIBUTORS Eric Rhodes Writer Hannah Zellers Writer Jan Penton Miller Writer Eddie Walker Writer

ADVERTISING Sharon Bryant Marketing Consultant Vickie Mason Marketing Consultant Janie Holt Marketing Consultant Donna Norris Marketing Consultant Penny Webb Marketing Consultant Angie Campise Creative Services/ Production Janene Bradley Creative Services Copyright: 2021 Discover Cocke County, The Newport Plain Talk. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the newspaper management. Reproduction of advertising and design work is strictly prohibited due to the use of licensed art services and agency agreement.

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Features Inside

Cocke County History Cocke County Rivers And The Conquistadors

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The Beauty, Mystery, And Adventure Of Cosby’s History Highlighted Leonora: The Real Christy Explore Our Roots

at the Newport-Cocke County Museum

Experience the Cowboy life at the French Broad Outpost Ranch

Whitewater Rafting continues to grow in Cocke County

Walk On The Wild Side

at Briarwood Ranch Safari Park

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Cocke County’s History

Although Cocke County’s formal establishment came in 1797, a year after Tennessee entered the Union, settlers had entered the area over twenty years earlier, clearing land, plowing fields, and building homes.

Portions of Greene and Jefferson Counties were cut away to create the new county, named for Sen. William Cocke, a Revolutionary War veteran who eventually served in the governments of four states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi.

Native Americans, of course, were the first human residents of the county, and many proofs of their residency continue to be unearthed each year during spring plowing in the form of arrowheads and bits of pottery. Circumstantial evidence also points to Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto’s party have passed through the area.

White trappers and hunters began making their way into the area by the mid-eighteenth century. By the 1770s and

1780s more folks came and settled permanently. Many of these were Revolutionary War veterans who received bounty land here in payment for the military service.

The earliest settlements, quite naturally, were along the three county’s three rivers: French Broad, Pigeon, and Nolichucky. Several forts, including Bell’s Station, Whitson, Huff, Wood, McKay, and Swagerty, were erected as safe havens from Indian attacks. Today, Swagerty Blockhouse, standing alongside Old. Hwy. 321 north of Parrottsville, is the only remnant of these structures remaining.

Legend accords John Gilliland the honor of planting the first corn crop in the county “at the mouth of the Big Pigeon River.” This spot is now known as the Fork Farm.

Gilliland also gave fifty acres of land to establish a county seat alongside the French Broad River at what we call “Old Town.”

Continue on page 5

Discover Cocke County 2021

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From page 4

Here stood the courthouse, jail, Peter Fine’s ferry, a hotel or two, and a few other businesses, such as Rankin and Pulliam’s store.

The only remaining structure from this era is the Gilliland-Cameron-O’Dell house in Old Town. Across the river is the Roadman Cemetery, final resting place of many of the town’s earliest residents. Early leaders such as Peter Fine, Edom Kendrick, and William Roadman are interred there.

The pioneers brought a deep religious faith with them.

In 1787, a full ten years before the county’s creation, Big Pigeon Primitive Baptist Church was established in the home of John English. Church minutes mention a cessation of meetings due to “Indians being troublesome.” The church still holds services once a month.

Within twenty-five years, Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches were established, followed by Salem Lutheran Church’s establishment in 1845.

The only Revolutionary War skirmish known to have occurred in Cocke County was at the War Ford.

Because of the area’s topography, large plantations and the majority of slave labor were minimal. A few such holdings lined the rivers. Many families owned no slaves, with the average family holding a small mountain farm and ekeing out a living with the help of their large families.

By 1830, the county’s population remained small. Efforts to bring the railroad here periodically flourished and them ebbed until after the Civil War when the first train arrived in 1867.

When hostilities erupted, Cocke County citizens voted overwhelmingly to remain in the Union. However, young men allied themselves with both the Union and the Confederate armies, sometimes pitting brother against brother. No major battles occurred here, but there were some skirmishes: the Battle of Shultz Mill on Cosby and another

fracas near Parrottsville. Women, children, and the elderly suffered greatly at the hands of both armies plus marauding bands of bushwhackers.

After peace returned in 1865, Cocke County experienced unprecedented growth, and in the 1880s, after much controversy and a lenghty lawsuit, the county seat was moved from alongside the French Broad River to its present site adjacent to the Pigeon River and near the new railroad.

Formal education arrived in Cocke County in the form of Anderson Academy, a brick structure built in the 1830s near today’s Northwest Elementary School. Dozens of one- and two-room schools sprang up across the county; at one time over 80 such educational homes operated.

The end of the nineteenth century brought large logging companies here for the massive virgin timber which abounded. A tannery opened in the 1890s, and in the early 1900s Stokely Brothers, a canning factory, relocated here from nearby Jefferson County.

Over the past 200-plus years, Cocke Countians have done their part as “the Volunteer State,” with hundreds of men and not a few women answering their country’s call during the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, two world wars, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Charles McGaha of Cosby was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman for his World War II heroic service.

Now in the twenty-first century, Cocke County continues to grow and evolve. Some industries have closed; others have opened. Great strides in the local school systems have taken place. A more concerted effort to promote Cocke County’s tourist options continue to grow, and many retirees opt to settle here.

Who knows what the next century will bring?

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The French Broad was first known by the Indian name “Agiqua” but received the present name from hunters and trappers to distinguish it from the Broad River in eastern Buncombe County that flows into South Carolina. Before 1763, much of the area west of the Appalachian Mountains was controlled by France, thus the “French” Broad river.

Cocke County Rivers And The Conquistadors

By Eddie Walker

The French Broad is the largest of the three rivers in Cocke County. Considered to be one of the three oldest rivers in North America, the French Broad is estimated to be between 260 and 325 million years old, making it older than the Appalachian Mountains through which it courses. The other two rivers are the Susquehanna of NY and PA and the New River of NC, VA and WV. These three rivers are the

only ones to bisect the mountain chain.

The headwaters of the French Broad are in Transylvania County, NC near the town of Rosman, where the North Fork and West Fork join just west of the Eastern Continental Divide. A few miles downstream, the river is joined by Continue on page 8

Discover Cocke County 2021

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8 Discover Cocke County 2021 From page 6

the East and Middle Forks. In all, the French Broad is 219 miles in length, 117 of those in NC and the rest in Tennessee, about 40 of which are part of Cocke County. The other Tennessee counties it touches are Jefferson, Sevier and Knox. It is about seven miles east of Knoxville where the French Broad joins the Holston River to form the Tennessee River.

The French Broad was first known by the Indian name “Agiqua” but received the present name from hunters and trappers to distinguish it from the Broad River in eastern Buncombe County that flows into South Carolina. Before 1763, much of the area west of the Appalachian Mountains was controlled by France, thus the “French” Broad river.

In more recent times, the French Broad has been linked with the author Wilma Dykeman, who wrote the book by that name as part of the Rivers of America series. Published in 1955, “The French Broad” brought to life the history of the river and its people. It was only natural that Ms. Dykeman be the one to write this book, herself a native of Asheville, where the river had been so significant, and Jehu Stokely, John Huff, William Robinson, Edom

Kendrick, Peter Fine and Swan P. Burnett, ancestors of Ms. Dykeman’s husband, James R. Stokely, had all emigrated to Cocke County and settled along the French Broad.

In this book, Ms. Dykeman divulged the damaging effects which “progress” and pollution had wrought on the river and had sounded the alarm that such might be irreversible. This was some years before Rachel Carson jolted the cause of environmentalists with her book “Silent Spring”.

Ms. Dykeman certainly planted a seed, which germinated to the point that citizens took note and took steps to bring the river back from the brink of destruction to the point where it is today. Not only does the river provide water for municipalities, such as Newport and Cocke County, but it also offers many recreational opportunities for the citizens and habitats for wildlife.

Ms. Dykeman did not touch on one part of the history of the French Broad River and that was its part in the explorations of the Spanish conquistadors who came to this continent to lay Spain’s claim on these lands and to discover

Tennessee Historical Society

Continue on page 9

This detailed map shows the route used by Hernando de Soto as he traveled through portions of East Tennessee.

Discover Cocke County 2021 From page 8

vast sources of wealth, hopefully gold and silver. Students of American History may recall the names of such men as Christopher Columbus, Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortez, Francisco Pizarro and Vasco Nunez Balboa, but two men on that list were actually in what is now Cocke County.

Fortunately, for history there were scribes on these expeditions to record the events and encounters.

The first was Hernando de Soto. The de Soto expedition landed in May 1539 near present Tampa, FL. They went northward and wintered in the Florida panhandle. In the spring of 1540, they traveled up into what is now Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina; by May 21st they were near present Morganton, NC. On the 26th they reached the headwaters of what is now the Toe River and followed it to its confluence with the Cane River near the community of Relief in Mitchell County, NC where is formed the Nolichucky River, which the Indians called “Nonachunkeh.”

Historians have traced the route down the Nolichucky, through the present Tennessee counties of Unicoi, Washington, Greene and Cocke, where just below the community of Rankin in the Irish Bottoms, it empties into the French Broad.

De Soto’s expedition was then on the French Broad going through the Dutch Bottoms on down the river about three miles below the present town of Dandridge where they reached the palisaded Indian village of Chiaha on what was later known as Zimmerman’s Island. The impoundment of Douglas Lake in 1942-43 submerged Zimmerman’s Island, as well as The Dutch and Irish Bottoms. De Soto and his men left Chiaha on June 28th and traveled southward into

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Alabama and Mississippi.

The second expedition was that of Juan Pardo, who left Fort Santa Elena (near present Parris Island, SC) on December 1, 1566, and headed inland to further Spain’s colonial ambitions and search for food. When they reached a point near the present Morganton, NC, they erected Fort San Juan. Pardo left there on March 7, 1567, and returned to Santa Elena, leaving Sgt. Hernando Moyano in charge of Fort San Juan.

In the summer of 1567, Moyano and a detachment of men traveled into the Upper Nolichucky region in search of precious metals and gems. They burned the village of Guapare on the Watauga River and followed the de Soto route down the Nolichucky, then the French Broad, arriving at Chiaha on Zimmerman’s Island where they built their own fort and explored. At some point, the Indians must have become suspicious of Moyano and his men as they were confined to their fort, although they were well-fed and well-treated.

In September 1567, when Juan Pardo returned to Fort San Juan and learned of the fate of Moyano and his men, he set out immediately to rescue them. On October 6th, his group reached the fortified village of Tanasqui which historians believe was between the French Broad and Big Pigeon Rivers. (Could this have been the village at the forks of the rivers, the remains of which were described by Francis Baldridge in the Knoxville Register, February 25, 1825?)

The next day they reached Olamico which was another name for Chiaha. They left there on Olamico on October 22nd and arrived at Cauchi (near present Marshall, NC) Continue on page 10

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on the 27th. They eventually arrived back at Fort Santa Elena on March 2, 1568.

The easiest and most direct route between those two locations would have been on the French Broad River right through the heart of what is now Cocke County. In the 1980’s National Geographic published an article on the Juan Pardo Expedition describing the route just that way.

There is quite a bit of information online dealing with these two expeditions.

Here is a glimpse into some of our earliest history. These disciples of Columbus were right here where we are today. With the exception of occasional hunters and trappers, it would be over two hundred years before many Caucasians came into what is now Cocke County. Col. William Christian led an army of men from Virginia and the Carolinas through our area on an Indian raid in 1776.

Many of the men returned home with glowing accounts of the rich land, good water, abundant game and moderate climate, and within a few years the flood of emigration followed. They might have settled on the Big Pigeon, on Cosby Creek or perhaps the Nolichucky, but their land grants and deeds would place their lands on the waters of the French Broad River.

Tennessee Historical Society De Soto marched parallel to the Nolichucky to the French Broad River and Chiaha, seven days away. Archaeologists now believe this major, fortified town, subject to the chiefdom of Coosa in north Georgia, was on Zimmerman Island, near Dandridge.

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This is the home of Mrs. Elbert Carver, which was located in the Cosby Creek area.

The picture was taken and dated by C.S. Grossman, April 1942.

The Beauty, Mystery, and Adventure of Cosby’s History Highlighted Students of Tennessee history learn early that three distinct geographic divisions comprise the Volunteer State: East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee. Local citizens know, too, that the Cocke County community of Cosby is also divided into three distinct parts: Upper Cosby, Cosby, and Lower Cosby.

Generally speaking, Upper Cosby begins at the intersection of Hwy. 321 and the Hooper Hwy. (known locally as “the road to Gatlinburg”) and extends all the way to the TN/NC state line, thereby taking in all of

Cocke County’s portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The section known simply as “Cosby” runs down to the intersection of Hwy. 321 and Wilton Springs Road.

Here Lower Cosby begins and includes the areas of Bogard, Middle Creek, and Pleasant Valley.

This portion of Cocke County appealed to the early settlers whose ancestors left Ireland, Scotland, and Continue to page 13

Discover Cocke County 2021 From page 12

James Allen Sutton, age 58, sits on the porch of his home located in the Big Branch area of Cosby.

This picture was taken and dated by C.S. Grossman, June 2, 1936.

Wales to seek their fortunes in America.

With misty mountaintops, icy clear streams, virgin timber, and outcroppings of rugged rocks, the area bears strong resemblance to the Scottish Highlands and Welsh countryside. One of the many mysteries still intriguing researchers is the origin of the name. As early as February 26, 1793, ten horses were reported as having been stolen on “Cozby’s Creek by the Indians.”

Most agree that the community’s name honors someone of the day, but just who that person is has never been fully proven. Many agree that Dr. James Cosby, a close friend of Gen. John Sevier and said to have been the first government distiller in what would become

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East Tennessee, is a likely candidate. It wasn’t until 1807 or thereabouts that Tennessee, then a new state of 11 years, began granting land to white settlers hoping to establish their homes in Cosby.

Cosby’s boundaries form a rough triangle. It lies in Cocke County’s southeastern portion where Mt. Guyot’s 6,636’ altitude is our highest point, rising way beyond Newport’s 930’ mark. The difference provides for a great variance in the area’s temperatures, growing seasons, and plant life.

In wintertime, when roads and highways in the low areas of Cocke County remain snow and ice free, Tobe’s Creek Road in Upper Cosby remains slick and impassable.

Temperatures vary as much as 8 degrees between Newport and Cosby, adding to the allure of the Cosby Campground in the hot summer months. Early families settling in the area included the Baxter, McMahan, Phillips, Sutton, Webb, Carver, and Campbell clans, who christened the creeks, ridges, and mountain peaks with what they thought were appropriate names.

Most are self-explanatory: Groundhog Creek, Bear Wash, Sharp Point, and Hen Wallow. Others identify a point or area with a particular family, such as Gilliland Town, Sutton, and Costner. As the families became established, they came to know the intimate details of the mountains.

Young boys and girls grew to maturity educated about the dangers of rattlesnakes and copperheads, which berries, roots, leaves, and barks to use as medicines, where to find the best huckleberries, and which paths to take to White Rock. They learned the identities of the trees, being able to name them by their bark in the winter as easily as by their leaves and blooms in the spring and summer. Sometimes they watched as Cherokee passed through the area, sometimes coming across the mountain to trade for whiskey.

They gathered around the flickering fires in their log cabins and listened to their elders relate the stories of the “Old Country” and tales of the Civil War. They absorbed their families’ genealogies. Perhaps they shouldered the feuds, carried on the backs and in the hearts of their parents and grandparents for generations. Infant mortality was high, as attested by the mute reminders in dozens of family graveyards.

Death also arrived in the form of diseases-typhoid, tuberculosis, and the ever-dreaded pneumonia.

Sometimes it came via bullets fired from guns carried

by Kirk’s Raiders, Lewis’s Scouts, or the more deadly bushwhackers who preyed on the remote community during the Civil War. Such dangers led to an innate distrust of outsiders by the citizens.

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Pictured is the Chandler Jenkins barn, which was located in Indian Camp Truck Trail in Cosby.

C.S. Grossman took the picture on March 26, 1937, as he wanted to focus on the detail of the cantilever construction.

From page 13

Children were warned to beware of strangers and never, ever reveal the whereabouts of their fathers, uncles, or older brothers.

To do so sometime meant the conscription of these unfortunate men into service by either the Union or Federal Armies. Such a story is still told by the Ogle family. Cosby achieved worldwide fame in the late 1800s and early 1900s as the “Moonshine Capitol of the World.”

Its remote hollows and pure waters combined to offer an ideal place for the making of some of the best whiskey in the world. The government’s decision to tax whiskey and subsequent laws outlawing its production by private citizens led to an all-out war between the revenuers and local whiskey makers.

Ready markets in nearby Knoxville and Asheville kept the business active for well over a century. Stories abound about how local drivers easily outran law enforcement personnel. The arrival of Great Smoky Mountains National Park left many families

embittered as they found themselves forced to leave homes built by their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

Many children and grandchildren of these displaced citizens now agree the money their ancestors received for their property helped launch new businesses, pay for college educations, and, in general, provide better standards of living for their families. In the late 20th century, Cosby was once again “discovered,” this time by retirees looking for a slower-paced community, one with lower taxes and within driving distances to larger cities. With its close proximity to Asheville, Knoxville, Johnson City, and Atlanta, Cosby fit the bill.

Musicians and artists, too, have moved to the area, bringing with them a love for the area equal to that of the earliest settlers. Today Cosby’s history is celebrated through such festivals as Cosby In the Park, Music of the Mountains, On Cosby, and the Ramp Festival.

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16 Discover Cocke County 2021

Leonora: The Real Christy

By Hannah Zellers

The Honda bounced over patches of concrete and gravel. With each curve in the road, my stomach twisted a little tighter. I tried to ignore the motion sickness and watch for a road sign to the Christy Mission. My dad and I were on a Sunday afternoon drive to hunt down some local history. Even as a Cocke County native, I had forgotten how deep these mountains went. The one-lane road wound through hollows that wouldn’t see sunlight until late afternoon. Old tobacco barns sat in tree-lined clearings, slanting precariously above the vehicles and farm implements stored inside. Dogs barked from the front porch welcome mats of houses tucked between hillsides. .I didn’t see the Christy Mission sign until it appeared in the rearview mirror. A little reverse work and one sharp turn later, we were back on track, angling upward and trading the patched concrete for gravel. I wondered what these woods had looked like to Leonora Whitaker, the real-life schoolteacher who inspired the bestselling novel, “Christy”, by Catherine Marshall. Telling the story of a nineteenyear-old from Asheville, North Carolina, the book follows Christy into the mountains of East Tennessee. Though the novel is fictionalized, an estimated three-fourths is based on fact drawn from the life of Leanora.

Arriving shortly after Christmas 1909, Leonora . stepped off the train at the Del Rio train stop and spent the night at the boarding house owned by Joseph and Mildred Burnett. After a journey through the snow to Ebenezer Mission, she began teaching school in the little community that the novel fictionally refers to as Cutter Gap. The novel creates a love-triangle between Christy, Rev. David Grantland, and Dr. Neil MacNeill—but the doctor’s character was added for fictional appeal. In reality, a love story did occur between the mission pastor named John Wood and Leanora, the new schoolteacher. The two were married four months after they first met. .What was this Leonora like—the real Christy? I wondered. Had she really been the city-girl with the fine clothes depicted in the 1994 “Christy” film starring Kellie Martin? It seemed that only a girl with

Cocke County Department of Tourist Development

This is one of the many signs that provides information to travelers as they visit Chapel Hollow Road in Del Rio. This is the site of the fictional village Cutter Gap, used in the novel “Christy”, which was based on the life of Leonora Whitaker.

courage and grit would hike seven miles through snow to an isolated cove in the mountains to live among strangers in order to teach children how to read. .As we drove, I tried to imagine making the trek on foot, or, worse, in a horse-drawn wagon on roads with holes so deep that wagons were trapped up to their axels in mud. The gravel roads under our tires seemed luxurious compared to the novel’s description of the mudhole where “mules might just as well be trying to hoof it through sorghum.” After enough twists and curves to make me question the existence of Christy’s mountain home, the woods on both sides of the road fell away to reveal a narrow valley ahead, a true mountain “holler” if ever I’d see one. .Kudzu grew on the steep slopes. A sign with peeling paint and moss growing on the edges said “Christy” in black letters chipped by time and weather. Another sign beneath it read “INFORMATION” in block letters next to an empty brochure box. Further up the valley, a rusted car with wingtips sank up to its hubcaps in soft, spring earth. It had arrived sometime in the interim between Leanora’s arrival and my own and had apparently decided to put down roots. .Little plots cleared from the surrounding woods were empty except for signs staked into the ground.

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From page 16

One sign beside a trickle of water and a pile of stones read “Spring.” Another read, “Church-Schoolhouse,” and yet another, located beside a stonework foundation in the ground, said, “Mission House Site.” .Little else was left. I couldn’t help feeling disappointed that a century would leave so few relics. Other than the signs sticking up from the ground, this hollow looked like a hundred others that we’d passed on the road. I trudged up it until I saw a crumbling chimney

Emma Woods Hoskins Collection

Ebenezer Mission also served as a school for many years including the time in which Leonora Whitaker was a teacher from 1909 to 1912. The church was eventually dismantled and reconstructed on its current site. It is now know as Ebenezer Independent Missionary Baptist Church.

Emma Woods Hoskins Collection This is a photo taken of Leonora Whitaker at the Christy Mission compound. Whitaker’s daughter, Catherine Marshall, based the novel “Christy” on the her mother’s time teaching impoverished children in the mountains of Appalachia. Whitaker left her home to teach at the mission school near Del Rio in 1909.

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sticking up from the ground like a tall game of Jenga. An outline of a stone foundation showed where the outer walls of a cabin had once stood. .All of the buildings were long gone—burnt, fallen down, or relocated. Leonora, too, was gone from this cove deep in the mountains. The place was silent except for the sound of a creek and the wind and a dog barking somewhere down the valley. What had I expected to find? A few cabins? A springhouse? Maybe a fence row? I didn’t know. Maybe I had hoped to find something that would make the real Christy seem more…real. .As I walked back toward the parked Honda, I listened to the sound of the creek. In the novel, when Christy arrives at the mission house, she hears, “the sound of a mountain stream somewhere close.” Leonora had heard that same stream, just as I was hearing it now.

I saw Grape Hyacinth growing in clusters at the edge of the woods. Perhaps Leonora had gathered wildflowers in the springtime of 1910. She had gone to get water from the spring. She had attended church and visited with neighbors. As I thought about these everyday actions, I could imagine Leonora as a person, not just a character living in the pages of a book.

Even though she inspired a book that outlasts wood beams and stone fireplaces, the real Christy was an ordinary person like me. .I looked around once more. The buildings at the mission site were gone now, but the story of a woman who ventured into an unknown place in order to serve others remained. That story became a bestseller because it was based on an ordinary woman who had courage. And that courage is what made Leonora Whitaker, the real Christy, extraordinary.

18 Discover Cocke County 2021

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Explore our roots at the Newport-Cocke County Museum

By Jan Penton Miller

The Newport-Cocke County Museum is the perfect place to explore the county’s history. Several permanent collections are on display three days per week from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jackie Garbarino, museum co-chair, and assistant Courtney Vargas can help guide you through Cocke County’s past.

The Newport-Cocke County Museum located at 433 Prospect Avenue, is one of Newport’s hidden gems. It is tucked away in the Community Center and houses quite a collection of treasures from a bygone era.

The various articles on display enlighten visitors to the rich and proud history of the area.

Each display tells a tale. Some speak of the overcoming spirit of individuals who stood strong during adversity; some shed light on the fashionable ladies of

their day; some share stories of the bravery and sacrifice of men who fought for our freedoms, and still others give a glimpse into the ordinary days and ways of life in the past.

Opened over 20 years ago, the museum began as a project of the William Cocke Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution.

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From page 20

The late Wilma Dykeman was very instrumental in the museum’s organization and successful opening.

In 1980, the late U.S. Rep. Jimmy Quillen cut the ribbon to officially open the museum’s first exhibit, a collection of Grace Moore items loaned by UT

One of the items donated to the museum was this pair of baby shoes from the 1800s.(Photo by JAN PENTON MILLER) One of the main exhibits at the museum honors Sgt. Charles L. McGaha. McGaha received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman. ( Photo Submitted )

Left: Fashionable ladies finery, including this hat, can be seen at the Newport-Cocke County Museum.

Right: A few items at the museum honor the late operatic soprano singer and actress Grace Moore. Moore was born in Del Rio in 1898. She was nicknamed the Tennessee Nightingale.

(Photos by JAN PENTON MILLER)

Knoxville. Hundreds attended the gala event, and many of these items remain on display today.

The museum’s permanent collection includes three rooms: a pioneer kitchen, a bedroom, and a Victorian parlor. Items ranging from locally crafted furniture, hand-thrown pottery, photographs, dolls, and

vintage clothing fill these rooms.

Another corner is devoted to the late Gov. Ben W. Hooper (1870-1957), and another Cocke County native, Sgt. Charles McGaha, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II, is remembered with a special case containing his uniform, medal, and other memorabilia.

Of special interest is the museum’s outstanding quilt collection, centered around a bequest by the late Miss Edna Smith.

Of particular interest is a Friendship quilt, a gift of the Baxter-Matthews family, which has been deemed by internationally known quilt experts as one of the finest pieces of craftsmanship they have ever seen.

Hanging high overhead is a Depression-era mural painted by internationally known artist Minna Citron, which originally graced Newport’s post office.

Guests can travel back in time as they meander these scenes from Cocke County’s past.

There is no entrance fee and the museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

22 Discover Cocke County 2021

D i s c ov e r Yo u r Ha p p i l y Ev e r A f t e r Are you looking for a babbling creek, a beautiful mountain view, acreage, a log home or one on the golf course?

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Award #1 Pharmacy

Your local Good Neighbor Pharmacy offering quality products and services that are competitive with the big national chains. Friendly staff offers a “special dose of caring” that makes you feel right at home.

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PHOTOS BY FRENCH BROAD OUTPOST RANCH

Horseback riding is the main ranch activity that is done every month the ranch is open.

Guests will be given a horse that fits their skill at the start of the week. Rides range from one to two hours in duration not counting saddling and grooming.

Experience the Cowboy Life at the French Broad Outpost Ranch

By Eric Rhodes Continue on page 25

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From page 24

Located at 461 Old River Road in Del Rio, French Broad Outpost Ranch offers horseback riding, square dancing and other staples of a traditional western dude ranch.

Opened in 1993 by Shawn Gannon, the ranch is nestled in the historic Cherokee National Forest, on the banks of its namesake, the French Broad River. Since opening, the ranch has expanded to include a hotel with a saloon, a game room, a lodge and a swimming pool.

The ranch was featured on “Best of America by Horseback,” a television series that showcases various horseback riding facilities across the country. The show spotlighted the ranch’s treatment of the horses, noting that, unlike many facilities, French Broad encourages the guests to spend more time with their horses, building a stronger bond.

All the horses at French Broad are Arabians, which draws attention. Arabians are considered to be more hot-tempered, but the Gannons pride themselves on how well mannered their horses are, as well as on the attention to detail they take in training and keeping their horses.

The ranch offers 6-day packages and 3-5 day packages. Available activities depend on the season. Guests check in on Sunday night or Wednesday night (3-night guests only) and receive a horseback riding orientation class.

Shawn Gannon, owner and operator of French Broad Outpost Ranch, has been helping people learn to ride horses and relax since the ranch opened in the 90s.

Cattle drives are held with six to 10 guests just like the old ranch hand days. Each guest during the summer high season gets to do one cattle drive.

Drives start in mid March and are done until January 1 Monday starts with breakfast at 8 a.m., and then two horse riding sessions, one before lunch and one after. Supper is at 6 p.m. every night. Mondays and Saturdays in the summer include a Team Penning activity, in which guests herd cattle into pens.

In the summer, Tuesday and Wednesday feature tubing and white water rafting trips respectively, and Wednesday night is the Pioneer Games with the late-half guests.

Thursday sports a Bluegrass band concert in the Iron Horse Saloon. Friday is the busiest day of the trip. The morning begins with a big cattle drive, and lunch is served on the drive. The drive is followed by a kids’ rodeo in the summer and square dance after supper.

Checkout for full-week and Wednesday 3-day guests is Saturday at 2 p.m.

During the stay, guests may also take advantage of the area’s fishing and hiking. In the low seasons (March-Memorial Day, Labor Day-Thanksgiving),

Continue on page 26

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The ranch has two team penning events each summer, once Monday after supper and again on Saturday morning.

Team penning is one of our most popular events. Everyone enjoys this rodeo game of pushing cows into the box.

From page 25

guests can expect a more relaxing experience with extra free time to enjoy the area on their own.

French Broad Outpost Ranch sports a lodge of 4 rooms (each capable of sleeping four guests), the Lone Star Hotel (which can house up to 21 guests), and the standalone Mountain Springs Cabin (which is available as an upgrade to the Dude Ranch package, sleeping four guests).

The Mountain Springs Cabin is available for rent separate from the Dude Ranch package at a rate of $125 at $10 per night, up to four guests total. per night for two guests, with each additional guest All meals are served family style, with guests passing around dishes full of classic, hearty, homestyle food such as mashed potatoes, fried okra and homemade bread. .Summer rates are $250 per night for adults, $200 per night for teenagers, $160 per night for kids 5-12, and $50 per night for kids under five years old. .Low season rates are $225 per night for adults, $190 per night for teens, $145 per night for kids 5-12, and $50 per night for kids under five years old.

The Gannons offer riding clinics at the ranch on select weekends throughout the year. Prices are $599 per person, including lodging. Local participants who do not need lodging are $100 per person for the weekend. Meals are included.

All meals are served family style, with guests passing around dishes full of classic, hearty, homestyle food such as mashed potatoes, fried okra and homemade bread.

For more information, including booking, directions, and policies, visit frenchbroadduderanch.com

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Thousands of thrill seekers head down the Pigeon River from Waterville to Hartford every year using one of the county’s many rafting companies. Tourism is the state’s second largest industry and Hartford is one of the crown jewels of Cocke County’s tourism offerings.

Whitewater Rafting continues to grow in Cocke County

Tucked away in the mountains of Cocke County, Hartford sits along I-40 East at exit 447, serving as the next to last exit before the North Carolina state line.

This small town is home to numerous whitewater rafting companies, gas stations, a post office, and unique restaurants. Settled along the Pigeon River, Hartford is a quiet town filled with outdoor enthusiasts and curious tourists.

For one who wants to be away from the hustle and bustle of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, yet still within reasonable driving distance, there are many riverside camping options. The Downtown Hartford Citgo and the BP serve as the only gas stations along I-40 between Newport and Maggie Valley, NC. The Pigeon River Smokehouse, located at the BP, serves up the best-known BBQ in the area.

Across the street sits The Bean Trees Café — a unique dining experience with riverside dining and live music on Friday and Saturday nights. The Bean Trees features a vegetarian and kid friendly menu and serves specialty coffee drinks, beer, and wine.

Each whitewater rafting company utilizes the public putin, located at I-40 East, exit 451-Waterville. This access point is used for the upper Pigeon River trip, which consists of 12 class III rapids and three class IV rapids. Rapids in the Southeast are rated on a class scale of I to VI, with I being slow moving flat water and VI being deemed experts only or closed for commercial and recreational use.

The public put-in lies on the North Carolina state line in Haywood County. Each rafting company uses a different put-in, most located on the company’s property, for the lower Pigeon River trip, consisting of class I and II rapids with a mild class III at the end of the trip before taking out at the public take-out in Denton.

The whitewater rafting companies are located along Hartford Road. Each trip will vary in length depending on which company you choose. For the majority, the upper trip is at least five miles long, and the lower trip is approximately six miles long.

For the more adventurous person or someone looking for a thrilling ride that guarantees you’ll be getting wet, the upper Pigeon River trip is perfect. Children are welcome to join the excitement as long as they follow the general rules of being at least eight-years-old or weighing 70-pounds (this is for a child who may be younger than eight but is still “big” enough to with stand the physical aspects of the trip).

A trained, CPR-certified raft guide will journey with you through rapids such as Power House, Full-of-Water, VegO-matic, Snap Dragon, The Lost Guide, Double Reactionary and The Accelerator. The upper Pigeon River provides scenery and photo opportunities when you are not concentrating on the white water.

For families with smaller children or those looking for a calmer ride, the lower Pigeon River awaits. Consisting mostly of class I and II rapids, the lower allows children as young as three to enjoy the rafting experience.

Be sure to bring a waterproof camera to capture memories, as this trip is more scenic, winding around the mountains and following Hartford Road downstream to Denton.

Large areas of slow moving flat water provide a way to cool-off on a hot, summer day. Even if you are unable to swim, each guest is provided a PFD-personal floatation Continue on page 30

30 Discover Cocke County 2021 From page 29

device-and a raft guide will accompany you for the duration of the trip.

Figures released by the Cocke County Clerk’s office show a total of 238,861 rafters paid to enjoy the local streams in 2020, which brought in a total of $398,770 to the county coffers. Added to that is $5,500 in permit fees paid by the eleven licensed rafting companies.

The $398,770 figure is up more than $23,000 from the $375,568 paid by 225,651 rafters in 2019. However, it still falls below the all-time high $405,742 figure from 2016 and the $391,960 in 2015.

Cocke County has benefited tremendously from the rafting industry, which welcomes visitors from around the world to the waters of the Pigeon River. In 1995, the first full year of the rafting industry, 17,337 paid customers and a total of 21,154 total rafters added $35,674 to the local budget, along with $3,000 in permit fees. From 1995 until 2020, nearly every year has seen a significant increase in the number of visitors and the money derived from the business.

In fact, more than $6.4 million has been garnered over the 25 years that Cocke County has had a rafting industry.

Cocke County Clerk Shalee’ McClure is currently preparing to issue rafting permits for 2021 to company owner.

McClure said the industry has been able to grow due to the partnership between the community, businesses and the county.

“The success of our rafting industry is the result of a tremendous partnership among the rafting companies, local community and political leaders, landowners, and,

of course, our tourists. Because of this cooperation, Cocke County has undergone a positive growth with a tremendous economic impact over the years.”

For more information regarding whitewater rafting prices and trips on the Pigeon River, please contact the following companies in Hartford: Big Bear Rafting, Five Rivers Adventures, Big Creek Expeditions, NOC Adventure, LLC, Outdoor Adventures, Inc., Rafting in the Smokies, Rapid Expeditions, Rip Roaring Whitewater Adventures, Inc., Smoky Mountain Outdoors, USA Raft and Wildwater Rafting.

Figures released by the Cocke County Clerk’s office show a total of 238,861 rafters paid to enjoy the local streams in 2020, which brought in a total of $398,770 to the county coffers.

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32 Discover Cocke County 2021

Walk on the wild side at Briarwood Ranch Safari Park

By Eric Rhodes

It’s not often you see a zebra in East Tennessee, but Briarwood Ranch Safari has that and much more. Nestled on Briar Thicket Road, less than a mile off highway 160 in Bybee, Briarwood Ranch houses a variety of animals from six continents, right outside your car window.

The park offers $3 food buckets to feed the animals from your car, but they recommend feeding directly from the bucket, rather than from your hand, as many of the animals can accidentally nip when eating.

Guests can interact with zebras, yaks, goats, ostriches, and other animals that freely roam the property.

Guests can even take pictures and videos, and submit them to the park’s Facebook page.

“We like to use the guest’s pictures because it lets people know what the experience is like,”said Youlanda “Yo” Haney, the park’s manager. “It is such a unique experience that we have out here, where you

can feed these animals right from your car.

Upon arrival at the park, guests will see a large green building, which acts as the ticketing office and gift shop. On the other side of the road, the iconic orange fence mural, painted with silhouettes of some of the animals inside the park, greets guests. The trail that circles through the park is about four miles long. .Just through the gate is a sit-down picnic area, Easter Lilly Park. In this area, guests can see a few of the exotic birds and small mammals that are kept separate from the trail.

Unlike a zoo, most of the animals are not confined to specific enclosures. Often, the animals will follow guests’ vehicles through the park, hoping to be fed.

At each end of the trail there are penned petting animals like pygmy goats and silkie chickens, but throughout the drive, guests will experience up-close Continue on page 33

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From page 32

encounters with exotic animals from places like Africa, Asia and Australia, as well as familiar North American animals. The park is even home to several American bison, including the rare White Buffalo.

“People like the White Buffalo a lot, because they’re so rare. They used to be 1 in 10 million. They were almost extinct,”said Haney. “Right now we have four White Buffalo in the park, seven buffalo total.”

“The first one was from North Dakota, the owner of the park went up there and got him. We named him ‘Custer. Right now our oldest is Comanchy, and she

Continue on page 34

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34 Discover Cocke County 2021 From page 33

was born here in the park,”said Haney.

As much as the park is about the animals, the experience is also about the people. The park was built and opened by the late Ron Nease. He purchased the property in the 1980s and finally opened the park in 2006. The Nease family has provided this service to the community for over a decade, and even since

Ron’s passing in 2016, they continue to care for the animals and for the community. The park was closed for a short time due to the expiration of the park’s USDA permit following Nease’s death. After nine months of work from the community and cooperation from former Congressmen Phil Roe and Senator Bob Corker, the permit was reinstated and the park reopened in September of 2017.

“I came on in 2013,” said Haney. “I actually moved into [Nease’s] rental home, which was on the property, and from there I ended up getting the job. I’ve always been an animal lover,”she said. .Briarwood Ranch was featured on Daytime Tri-Cities in the early 2010’s, when hosts Morgan King and Amy Lynn took a trip through the park on one of the wagon rides. .The safari is open from noon to 4 p.m. each day, and the last safari starts one hour before closing to give guests plenty of time to enjoy the trip. .Tickets are $17 for adults, $12 for children ages 3-12, and $15 for adults over 60. Wagon rides, available by appointment only, are an additional $7 per ticketed person. Children under three years old ride for free.

Guests can travel the park as long and as often as they like on a single ticket, so long as they are out of the park on time. .Because the path through the park is a dirt road, the park will often restrict which vehicles they allow on the path if it is muddy. The park’s Facebook page has updates regarding vehicle restrictions and closures due to weather. .The park also accepts monetary donations from the public to help provide food, bedding, and medical care to the animals.

Donations can be made through their website, briarwoodsafari.org.

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All Roads Lead To Cocke County

Tourism | Chamber Of Commerce | Economic Development

Ask us about Chamber Membership

Cocke County Partnership www.cockecountypar tnership.com

#webelieveincockecounty #madeintn | #adventuresideofthesmokies | #madeincockecounty

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