## True Tales, History, Geography, Folklore & Wildlife of the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains and Foothills... #### Appalachian legends, ghost stories, mountain flora and fauna, Appalachian natural history, extinct and extirpated species, crafts, colorful historic characters, woods lore, mountain landforms, Blue Ridge weather, mountain cooking, Appalachian herbal remedies, past Blue Ridge landscapes, and historic sites. #### Blue Ridge Lore contains articles written by Kelly Coffey that have been published in various periodicals, as well as new essays that are presented here for the first time. More stories are added occasionally, and old ones are revised with new information, so check back every once in awhile for fresh material. #### [ The Naturalist’s Notebook ](https://howardsknob.xyz/naturalists-notebook) [ ![The Naturalist’s Notebook](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/bobcat.jpg "bobcat image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/bobcat.jpg)# The Naturalist’s Notebook #### For several years, I was The Naturalist’s Notebook columnist for The Appalachian Voice, a publication of the environmental advocacy organization [Appalachian Voices](https://www.appvoices.org/). All those articles are presented below... \[All photographs are by Kelly Coffey except where noted otherwise.\] Bobcat – Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service A series of 28 articles on plants, animals, and other natural features in the southern Appalachians. [Read The Articles](https://howardsknob.xyz/naturalists-notebook) #### [ Unique Gravestone Connected to Famous Pioneer](https://howardsknob.xyz/13-unique-gravestone/file) [ ![Unique Gravestone Connected to Famous Pioneer](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/unique-gravestone.jpg "unique-gravestone image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/13-unique-gravestone/file)*Photo courtesy Suni Shell* In Ashe County, located in North Carolina’s far northwestern corner, lies a cemetery with an unusual gravestone. It is an elongated rock, protruding 5.8 feet from the ground and only six and a half inches wide. The story behind the stone involves one of America’s most famous frontiersmen. *This article is published on the Atlas Obscura website ([Thomas Callaway’s Gravestone in West Jefferson](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/thomas-callaways-gravestone)).* [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/13-unique-gravestone/file) #### [ Early Land Speculation in Present-Day Watauga County](https://howardsknob.xyz/17-land-speculation/file) [ ![Early Land Speculation in Present-Day Watauga County](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/land-speculation.jpg "land-speculation image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/17-land-speculation/file) Early landholding patterns in Watauga County, North Carolina are evidence that land speculation was an important feature of frontier settlement. The original landholders in Watauga County held acreage that exceeded their subsistence needs and their ability to develop agriculturally. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/17-land-speculation/file) #### [ Mountain Humor: A Native American Legacy?](https://howardsknob.xyz/2-mountain-humor/file) [ ![Mountain Humor: A Native American Legacy?](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/mountain-humor.jpg "mountain-humor image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/2-mountain-humor/file)Photo by J.J. Whitley What is distinctive about mountain humor? Is its relationship to Indian humor coincidental or is there some historical kinship that has remained covert over the years? [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/2-mountain-humor/file) #### [ Cook Gap in Daniel Boone Lore](https://howardsknob.xyz/4-cook-gap/file) [ ![Cook Gap in Daniel Boone Lore](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/cook-gap.jpg "cook-gap image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/4-cook-gap/file) Cook Gap marks a line where Boone left the settled areas of the Yadkin foothills for the wilderness of the mountains. It is a threshold he crossed to become a true explorer of unsettled territory. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/4-cook-gap/file) #### [ Indian Encounters Along the Blue Ridge](https://howardsknob.xyz/11-indian-attacks/file) [ ![Indian Encounters Along the Blue Ridge](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/indian.jpg "indian image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/11-indian-attacks/file)Indian Encounters Along the Blue Ridge Numerous archaeological sites in North Carolina's northwestern mountains and foothills reveal that Native Americans lived here for thousands of years. Yet when European settlers arrived, they found no Indians living in the territory they were settling. Diseases from Europe unknown in the Americas had spread quickly and wiped-out Indian populations even before Europeans entered an area. While Indians did not make the area their home, that doesn't mean they were absent as white people moved in. They hunted, travelled through, traded, and, at times, violently attacked early European settlers. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/11-indian-attacks/file) #### [ The Devil's Stairs](https://howardsknob.xyz/5-devils-stairs/file) [ ![The Devil](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/devils-stairs.jpg "devils-stairs image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/5-devils-stairs/file)The Devil's Stairs A rock formation in Ashe County, known as the Devil's Stairs, is the site of numerous paranormal incidents. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/5-devils-stairs/file) #### [ Coldass Creek, Long Hope Mountain, & Elkwallow Knob](https://howardsknob.xyz/7-geographic-names/file) [ ![Coldass Creek, Long Hope Mountain, & Elkwallow Knob](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/compass.jpg "compass image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/7-geographic-names/file)Coldass Creek, Long Hope Mountain, & Elkwallow Knob Colorful Place Names Tell the Story of the Blue Ridge Region U.S. Geological Survey maps tell the names of the earliest hunters, explorers, and settlers; give clues about the early economy, reveal what crops were grown, and inventory native plants and animals that were living there when white people arrived. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/7-geographic-names/file) #### [ Fort Defiance](https://howardsknob.xyz/16-fort-defiance/file) [ ![Fort Defiance](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/fort-defiance.jpg "fort-defiance image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/16-fort-defiance/file)Fort Defiance, Lenoir, NC *Learn about the 1792 Caldwell County home of Revolutionary War hero and influential western North Carolinian William Lenoir.* Lenoir is a familiar name in North Carolina, with a city in the west and a county in the east named in honor of Revolutionary War Gen. William Lenoir. But it’s at the secluded home this prosperous plantation owner built in Caldwell County that you get the measure of the man. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/16-fort-defiance/file) #### [ The Plantation at Fort Defiance](https://howardsknob.xyz/12-plantation-at-fort-defiance/file) A spin-off article about the farm that was originally published in the *Fort Defiance Chronicle*. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/12-plantation-at-fort-defiance/file) #### [ Bordertown Showdown](https://howardsknob.xyz/10-bordertown-showdown/file) [ ![Bordertown Showdown](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/bordertown-showdown.jpg "bordertown-showdown image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/10-bordertown-showdown/file)Bordertown Showdown *On the Carolina frontier in 1788, Waightstill Avery, one of western North Carolina’s most prominent citizens, clashed with young Andrew Jackson.* Today, Andrew Jackson is well known for his military exploits against Indians and the British, as well as his success in politics and government. Few modern Americans, on the other hand, are familiar with Waightstill Avery. Ironically, the distinction of the two men was entirely different in 1788. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/10-bordertown-showdown/file) #### [ Nelly’s Tale](https://howardsknob.xyz/20-nellys-tale/file) [ ![Nelly’s Tale](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/nellys-tale.jpg "nellys-tale image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/20-nellys-tale/file)Nelly’s Tale *A supposedly true story of an encounter with a Bigfoot-type creature on Thunder Hill, as told to me by an old woman in 1980.* Near the town of Blowing Rock, Thunder Hill rises prominently from the Blue Ridge, dividing the streams of the Atlantic-bound Yadkin River from the waters of the New River headed for the Mississippi. The site has been known as Thunder Hill for generations, even before the Blue Ridge Parkway overlook of the same name was constructed near its crest. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/20-nellys-tale/file) #### [ Making the Cut](https://howardsknob.xyz/14-making-the-cut/file) [ ![Making the Cut](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/making-the-cut.jpg "making-the-cut image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/14-making-the-cut/file)Making the Cut *The essence of frontier America is embodied in the knives and sheaths produced by Watauga County natives Daniel Winkler and Karen Shook.* Few tools are as ancient and functional as a knife. With so many functions, a knife touches on almost all aspects of life at a particular time and place. Accurately designed and made, it can distill the essence of a culture like no other single object. A gun, for example, suggests warfare, and a cast-iron skillet evokes log-cabin domestic life, but a knife calls to mind both. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/14-making-the-cut/file) #### [ Fried Apples](https://howardsknob.xyz/19-fried-apples/file) [ ![Fried Apples](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/fried-apples.jpg "fried-apples image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/19-fried-apples/file)Fried Apples *Fried apples are a staple in traditional mountain cooking, but they rarely get the praise they deserve.* Fried apples are a simple yet distinctive dish widely served in the upland South. They can be found on tables at any meal and with a variety of other foods. They shouldn’t be confused with stewed apples, applesauce, fried apple pies, or other apple dishes. Genuine fried apples are a cuisine all their own with roots in agricultural history, pioneer subsistence, and plain home cooking. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/19-fried-apples/file) #### [ Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute](https://howardsknob.xyz/18-pisgah-astro/file) [ ![Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/pisgah-astro.jpg "pisgah-astro image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/18-pisgah-astro/file)Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. Photo Credit: NASA. *The story behind this high-tech facility in the middle of an extensive forest is an intriguing tale of space exploration, espionage, wilderness isolation, Cold War history, and astronomical discovery.* Pisgah National Forest, that sprawling stretch of federal government land between Boone and Brevard, is hard to miss as one travels around western North Carolina. Less visible is the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, located on the site of a former NASA tracking facility. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/18-pisgah-astro/file) #### [ Watauga County Sheriff Heads West](https://howardsknob.xyz/9-watauga-sheriff/file) [ ![Watauga County Sheriff Heads West](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/watauga-sheriff.jpg "watauga-sheriff image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/9-watauga-sheriff/file)Watauga County Sheriff Heads West *The tale of Cobb McCanles’ and Sarah Shull’s adventure in the Old West and his murder by Wild Bill Hickok.* No one was surprised when twenty-three-year-old David Colbert McCanles declared he was running to be sheriff of Watauga County. “Cobb”, as he was known, was a natural politician, with an outsized personality and a striking appearance. (Originally published January 2018 on the [High Country Press](https://www.hcpress.com/)) [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/9-watauga-sheriff/file) #### [ The Buncombe Turnpike](https://howardsknob.xyz/6-buncombe-turnpike/file) [ ![The Buncombe Turnpike](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/buncombe-turnpike.jpg "buncombe-turnpike image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/6-buncombe-turnpike/file)The Buncombe Turnpike *The story of the great mid-19th century livestock trail through the North Carolina mountains that foreshadowed the later epic cattle drives in the trans-Mississippi West.* [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/6-buncombe-turnpike/file) \[I wrote this paper for a class in graduate school. While it is obviously a scholarly essay, I still think the general reader will find it entertaining. If you have a hard time getting into it at first, skip over to the third page where it gets more interesting.\] #### [ The Bushwhacking Blalocks](https://howardsknob.xyz/1-blalocks/file) [ ![The Bushwhacking Blalocks](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/blalocks.jpg "blalocks image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/1-blalocks/file)The Bushwhacking Blalocks *The Civil War adventures of this husband and wife guerilla team are filled with shoot-outs and revenge killings.* Keith Blalock’s first experience with the Civil War came early in 1862. He was persuaded by James D. Moore to assist the Confederate cause by joining North Carolina’s Twenty Sixth Regiment. Keith insisted that his wife, Malinda, be allowed to join also. Moore agreed to the condition. Malinda dressed as a man, went by the name Sam Blalock, and claimed to be Keith’s brother. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/1-blalocks/file) #### [ Worldwide Weather](https://howardsknob.xyz/15-worldwide-weather/file) [ ![Worldwide Weather](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/worldwide-weather.jpg "worldwide-weather image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/15-worldwide-weather/file)Worldwide Weather *The world’s largest climate data center calls Asheville home.* The tour of the agency begins in a small museum room containing an assortment of artifacts and information from the agency’s past, like a weather logbook from the 1870s and several historical weather-measuring instruments. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/15-worldwide-weather/file) #### [ Alleghany County](https://howardsknob.xyz/8-alleghany-county/file) [ ![Alleghany County](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/alleghany-county.jpg "alleghany-county image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/8-alleghany-county/file)Alleghany County *Alleghany County is mountainous, but not remote; traditional, but not antiquated; agrarian, but not unrefined.* A leisurely drive through Alleghany County reveals its abundant treasures: The two-lane road is part of the scenery, not just a passage through it. Aging barns seem to have grown from the soil. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/8-alleghany-county/file) #### [ Ghost Stories](https://howardsknob.xyz/3-ghost-stories/file) [ ![Ghost Stories](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/ghost-stories.jpg "ghost-stories image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/3-ghost-stories/file)Ghost Stories This is a collection of ghost tales I’ve collected over the years from elderly people in the community, along with a couple of stories drawn from Roy Weaver’s Aho history books, where I’ve added my own comments and analysis. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/3-ghost-stories/file) #### [ Scary Tales Retold](https://howardsknob.xyz/55-scary-tales-retold/file) [ ![Scary Tales Retold](https://howardsknob.xyz/joomlatools-files/docman-images/scary-tales-retold.jpg "scary-tales-retold image") ](https://howardsknob.xyz/55-scary-tales-retold/file) Following are paranormal stories that I’ve collected from secondary sources and retold in my own words. All come from northwestern North Carolina and are associated with specific locations. [ Read Story ](https://howardsknob.xyz/55-scary-tales-retold/file)