known
Inscirbed above
"Clingman's Dome is a sacred mountain to the Cherokees, where the Magic Lake was once seen, The Great Spirit told the Cherokees that, "If they love me, if they love all of their brothers and sisters, and if they love the animals of the Earth, when they grow old and sick they can come to a magic lake and be made well again."
For the Cherokee these mountains have meant a refuge, homeland, and a mythical and spiritual foundation for their people. During the Indian Removal of the 1800's known as the Trail of Tears, the mountains meant safety from pursuing soldiers. Today these slopes provide a refuge and offer inspiration for visitors from a hectic modern society."
Also inscribed on the plaquard is the following -
"Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over civilized people are beginning to find that going to the mountains is going home." - Naturalist John Muir 1898
The highest point on the Appalachian Trail which stretches 2,200 miles of hiking trail from Maine to Georgia, at some point goes through Tennessee and North Carolina, and on the North Carolina side is the Smokey Mountains at a place known as "Clingman's Dome" now, historically Smoky's Dome and by the Natives - the Cherokees who lived there - the Kuwahi.
Postcard from the University of 1910 - 1955 states over 1,000 Cherokees escaped into the mountains - free from the "Trail of Tears"
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