Tennessee River

“ The general boundary followed the dividing ridge between Cumberland river and the more southern waters of the Tennessee eastward to the junction of the two forks of Holston, near the present Kingsport, Tennessee, thence southward to the Blue ridge and southwestward to a point not far from the present Atlanta, Georgia, thence westward to the Coosa river and northwestward to a creek running into Tennessee river at the western line of Alabama, thence northward with the Tennessee river to the beginning. ”

“ Before him, North Fork, an arm of Kings Lake, twisted across the Virginia line four and one-half miles away, while to Stonecypher's right, Boone Lake sparkled like a gigantic, badly drawn V. He did not look toward Surgoinsville Dam securing Kings Lake far to the west.
The Tennessee Lakes were born in 1918 when Wilson Dam spanned the Tennessee River at Muscle Shoals, Alabama; but their growth was retarded for fifteen years, until an Act of Congress injected them with vitamins. Then the mile-long bastions of concrete crawled between the ridges. ”

“ The country is still possessed by the aborigines, and the hand of civilization has done but little to soften the wild aspect of nature. The Tennessee river, having concentrated into one mass the numerous streams it has received in its course of three or four hundred miles, glides through an extended valley with a rapid and overwhelming current, half a mile in width. ”

“ The old days sleep, the lion of Tennessee sleeps With Daniel Boone and the hunters, The rifle men, the revelers, The laughers and dancers and choppers Who climbed the crests of the Alleghenies, And poured themselves into Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, the bountiful West. But the river never sleeps, the river flows forever, Making land forever, reclaiming the wastes of the sea. And the race never sleeps, the race moves on forever. And wars must come, as the waters must sweep away Drift-wood, dead wood, choking the strength of the river— For Liberty never sleeps! ”

“ Pontoons, with a full supply of balks and chesses, had been prepared for the bridge over the Tennessee, and all things had been prearranged with a foresight that elicited my admiration. From the hills we looked down on the amphitheatre of Chattanooga as on a map, and nothing remained but for me to put my troops in the desired position. The plan contemplated that, in addition to crossing the Tennessee River and making a lodgment on the terminus of Missionary Ridge, I should demonstrate against Lookout Mountain, near Trenton, with a part of my command. ”

“ Except at the Muscle Shoals in Alabama, navigation is unobstructed from the mouth of the river to Chattanooga, a distance of 450 miles. The Muscle Shoals are a series of rapids, where the river flows over limestone rocks from Florence to Decatur, a distance of 23 miles, but navigation around them has been effected by means of a canal and locks, completed by the United States Government in 1889. Above the Shoals small steamers may ascend the river to Knoxville. Besides Knoxville, the chief cities along its banks are Florence and Decatur in Alabama, and Chattanooga in Tennessee. ”

“ Middle Tennessee is the largest of the three natural divisions of the State. It is separated from the West division by the Tennessee River, and from East Tennessee by the Cumberland Mountains. It is a fine stock-raising country; and the valley of the Cumberland River affords an extensive tract of excellent cotton and tobacco lands. ”

“ When the State was admitted into the Union, in 1796, her population was homogeneous. The institution of slavery existed in all sections of the State.
In West and Middle Tennessee, where the soil and climate were suitable for raising cotton, slave labor was very profitable. In East Tennessee, the poor upland farms scarcely yielded a return to white labor. As the result of this difference in natural conditions, slavery flourished in West and Middle Tennessee, but in East Tennessee, by 1860, it had become almost extinct, except upon the rich plantations that bordered the Tennessee River. ”

“ In this valley arise and end the Clinch, the Holston, the Watauga, the Nolichucky, the French Broad, and the other streams, whose combined volume makes the Tennessee River. The upper end of the valley lies in southwestern Virginia, the head-waters of some of the rivers being well within that State; and though the province was really part of North Carolina, it was separated therefrom by high mountain chains, while from Virginia it was easy to follow the watercourses down the valley. ”

“ Our fellow-citizens of East Tennessee, though able to furnish in the greatest abundance, and of the best quality, flour and other articles of the first necessity, have heretofore been doomed to strive against the natural obstructions in the Tennessee River, shut out as they are from Mobile, the more natural, and perhaps the more profitable channel of commerce. ”

“ Round the corner is a farmhouse and place of call for visitors, a neat cottage, with a display of shells and minerals and flower-pots; and here we turned north crossed the little stream called Paint River, the only clear water we had seen in a month, passed into the State of Tennessee, and by a gentle ascent climbed Paint Mountain. The open forest road, with the murmur of the stream below, was delightfully exhilarating, and as we rose the prospect opened,—the lovely valley below, Bald Mountains behind us, and the Butt Mountains rising as we came over the ridge. ”

“ A few miles east of Loudon the Holston [187] and Little Tennessee Rivers come together, making the Tennessee River, which flows from the confluence west to Kingston, where it resumes its general flow southwest. The Holston rises in the mountains north and flows south to the junction. The Little Tennessee rises in the mountains east and flows west to the junction. The railroad crosses the main river at Loudon, thirty miles from Knoxville, and runs about [Pg 489] parallel to the Holston River, and near its west bank. ”

“ Soil. There is great diversity in the soils of the State, depending on the character of the rock formations, whose outcrops are coincident with the topographical regions. The alluvium of the Mississippi bottoms is the richest soil. It is followed beyond the bluffs by a brown loam becoming sandy and barren toward the Tennessee River. The Highland Rim has a siliceous soil of indifferent quality, but the Central Basin has a very fertile calcareous soil. The Cumberland Plateau is sandy and unproductive, but good magnesian limestone soil again occurs in the East Tennessee Valley. ”

“ While, in its present condition, the Tennessee river is not adequately improved for commercial navigation, and traffic is small, we are not at liberty to conclude either that the river is not susceptible of development as an important waterway, or that Congress has not undertaken that development, or that the construction of the Wilson Dam was not an appropriate means to accomplish a legitimate end. ”

“ We had a few skirmishes with Federal troops posted along the Tennessee river, in one of which Captain Gano took some prisoners, and burned a good deal of cotton, collected by the Federals for transportation to Huntsville. The [Pg 168] last two days of our march showed us the grandest and most beautiful scenery. We traversed the ridgy summit of the mountain range, which runs just along the southern bank of the Tennessee and connects with the group of bold mountains around Chattanooga. At one point the view is exceedingly striking. ”

“ In the very section which contains the exception, it is provided, that the use of the road from Washington district to Mero district should be enjoyed, and that the citizens of Tennessee, under the orders of the governor, might keep the road in repair. And in the same section, the navigation of the Tennessee river is reserved, and a right to travel from Knoxville to Price's settlement, provided the Indians should not object. ”

“ About 1750, East Tennessee was beginning to be settled by adventurous individuals, principally from western North Carolina, south-western Virginia, and occasionally from more northern colonies. The Indians were still regarded as the rightful owners and proper "lords of the soil." At the date of the council held at the Tennessee River in 1757, only that portion of the country north of that stream had become sparsely settled, but soon thereafter purchases of land were sometimes made directly from the Indian chiefs themselves, as in the above instance, and settlements of whites speedily followed. ”

“ South of the Tennessee River is what is called the Sand Mountains; the soil is of a sandy nature, freestone water, and the people are all white--in fact, it is said that they will not allow a colored man to live there. ”

“ The interest of the States of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Alabama, on the Tennessee river, and Texas, on the Red river, would be greatly promoted. They would all have improved routes to and from the mouth of the Mississippi, and to and from the Ohio, the lakes, and the Atlantic. Eastern Virginia and North Carolina would derive great advantages by the enlarged routes, connecting Albemarle sound and the Chesapeake with New York, Philadelphia, the Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and the lakes. ”

“ Tanasiʻ—a name which cannot be analyzed, commonly spelled Tennessee, occurring in several places in the old Cherokee country, viz.: 1. On Little Tennessee river about half-way between Citico and Toco creeks, in Monroe county, Tenn. 2. “Old Tennessee town,” on Hiwassee river, a short distance above the junction of Ocoee, in Polk county, Tenn. 3. On Tennessee creek, a head-stream of Tuckasegee river, in Jackson county, N. C. Tanasqui, visited by Pardo in 1567, may have been another place of the same name. ”

“ Our gunboats at anchor would be a target which the enemy will not be slow to improve and benefit thereby.
"The Tennessee river, beginning at Paducah fifty miles above Cairo, after leaving the Ohio, runs across south-southeast, rather than through Kentucky and Tennessee, until it reaches the Mississippi line directly west of Florence and Tuscumbia, which lie fifty miles east, and Memphis, one hundred and twenty-five miles west, with the Charleston and Memphis railroad eight miles from the river. ”

“ To cede to the United States all that portion of their territory lying to the northward of a direct line to be run from a point mentioned in treaty of October 2, 1798, on Tennessee River, 1 mile above its junction with the Clinch, to the point at or near the head of the West Fork of Stone's River, on the ridge dividing the waters of the Cumberland and Duck Rivers which is struck by a southwest line from the point where the Kentucky road crosses Cumberland River, as described in the treaty of Holston.
2. That the Tennessee River should be the boundary from its mouth to the mouth of Duck River ”

“ The view included Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, and much else; but its special charm was its foreground, the part peculiar to itself,—the valley, the river, and Raccoon Mountain. Along the river-banks were small clearings, each with its one cabin, and generally a figure or two ploughing or planting. A man in a strangely long boat—a dugout, probably—was making his difficult way upstream with a paddle. The Tennessee, in the neighborhood of Chattanooga, at all events, is too swift for pleasure-boating. ”

“ The gloom which it threw over the minds of the emigrants was so great, that the majority refused to press any farther into a wilderness where they would encounter such perils.
They had already passed two mountain ridges. Between them there was a very beautiful valley, through which flows the Clinch River. This many leagues below, uniting with the Holston River, flowing on the other side of Powell's Ridge, composes the majestic Tennessee, which, extending far down into Alabama, turns again north, and traversing the whole breadth of Tennessee and Kentucky, empties into the Ohio. ”

“ About eight hundred of the volunteers, and of that number I was one, were sent on through Huntsville so as to get on the Indians in another direction. After we passed Huntsville, we struck the Tennessee River at Melton’s Bluff. The river is here about two miles wide, and has so rough a bottom in many places as to be dangerous. At this place we left some of the horses with their feet held fast in the crevices of the rocks ”

“ The warm springs ooze through the sand on the south bank of the French Broad river, in the mountains which divide the [67] state of Tennessee from her parent state, about the 36th parallel of latitude. The temperature of the water is about 95° of Fahrenheit.
On the opposite side of the river from the springs is a geological curiosity. A limestone rock is seen dipping under the sandstone which forms the country. Limestone is nowhere else to be seen within six miles of this place. In this limestone rock is a cave similar to others already described. ”

“ The Master heard evidence and was presented exhibits and maps which showed that the migration of the Mississippi River northward and west continued until about 1912. At this time an avulsion occurred leaving Tennessee lands on the west or Arkansas side of the new or avulsive river channel. The Master found that thereafter, because of the avulsion, the water in the thalweg became stagnant and erosion and accretion no longer occurred. At this time the boundary between Arkansas and Tennessee became fixed in the middle of the old abandoned channel. ”

“ The industry is profitable to those engaged in it.
It was impossible to get much information about our route into Tennessee, except that we should go by Paint Rock, and cross Paint Mountain. Late one morning,—a late start is inevitable here,—accompanied by a cavalcade, we crossed the river by the rope ferry, and trotted down the pretty road, elevated above the stream and tree-shaded, offering always charming glimpses of swift water and overhanging foliage (the railway obligingly taking the other side of the river) , to Paint Rock,—six miles. ”