CADES COVE (published 7-28-2022; article #342)

Introduction

My mother (Betty Lou Wood Ferrell, 11/24/1932 - 12/27/2000) and father (Earl Ferrell, 9/17/1927 - 1/25/2008) took us four boys (born from 1960 to 1973) to Cades Cove now and then. Later in life, my parents visited Cades Cove by themselves several times.

The last conversation that I had with my father, before he joined my mother, was about he and I taking a trip to Cades Cove. He looked forward to our trip together. We never got to take that trip. Dad is enjoying, with his wife and many others, the Heavenly Cove, which is far more beautiful than Cades Cove.

Cades Cove is in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The reading of “History of Cades Cove,” Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is suggested.

Inspiration for this Article

The May 20, 2022, article highly recommended “Blind Pig & the Acorn.” I still highly recommend Tipper's website! It's for folks interested in Appalachian heritage, which should be everyone!

Every few days, I stop by to read or listen for a while at “Blind Pig & the Acorn,” where there's a fresh article daily. I stopped by earlier today to catch up on new articles since my last visit.

Among the great new articles, one caught my eye with the most interest. It is “John McCaulley – Cades Cove,” Blind Pig & the Acorn, 7/27/2022. Tipper wrote:

Cades Cove is one of the most visited places in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, if not the most. It’s never been a favorite place of mine; in fact I’ve only visited the area one time.

Cades Cove is stunningly beautiful. The views will literally take your breath away. There’s old buildings and other interesting things to see, and lots of folks who want to see them. The area is often crowded to the point of cars sitting still in a long line trying to catch a glimpse of the landscape, buildings, and wildlife.

I prefer the solitude of the backwoods, the high ridges, and the deep dark hollers.

Tipper, I agree with you! If you could visit Cades Cove, without all the traffic, it would be much more pleasant. (The “Cades Cove 2007” section below explains.)

Cades Cove, John McCaulley (1880 - 1961)

Tipper's 7/27/2022 article references APPALACHIA: Donnie Laws East Tennessee Outdoors of Stories and History of our mountains (YouTube) Donnie Laws has five years worth of videos about Appalachian history and stories! I'd not hear of him before, but I'm glad to know about his website now! I may add his YouTube channel to this website's “Appalachian Heritage” section.

On his previously referenced channel, Donnie Laws published “Appalachia History of Cades Cove the John McCaulley Story,” 7/19/2022. It is a 28-minute presentation about the:

Story and life of John McCaulley and his life in the Cades Cove from 1880 till he left it in 1937. A rare audio interview with him from 1960.

John McCaulley (1880 - 1961) begins to speak in his 1960 interview, about five minutes into the video. He was interviewed a year before he passed. His wife and he had nine children. Donnie Laws comments before and after the 1960 interview with John McCaulley.

Please pause from reading the rest of this article, until you watch and listen to Donnie Laws' presentation that I have referenced.

Cades Cove 2007

Didn't you enjoy that presentation? I thought that you would!

The July 14, 2022, article mentioned Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I searched this website and found “no posts matching the query: Cades Cove.” Since my first article (3/6/2006), I've never written about Cades Cove. I was shocked! I wrote 28 articles in 2006 and three in 2008. Nary an article was written in 2007.

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I have taken a number of weekend getaways, staying in cabins near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We've hiked several trails. One weekend was Friday, June 29, to Monday, July 2, 2007. We visited Cades Cove, and I took sixteen photographs. The following are two that I selected.

As I recall, the view is looking southeast. The weather was warm and partly cloudy. The photograph does not fully capture the amazing panoramic view, which our minds retained.

The cabin was located just off the south loop. I think a shed (partial view) was to the left of where I was standing. The outhouse was around back, as I recall. While we explored the cabin interior, I imagined who had lived in the cabin and what their lives were like, until the government forced them off their land, which had been taken from the Cherokees. (See my July 14, 2022, article.)

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman drove our 2000 Toyota Camry (the car that we had at the time). I either rode along or got out and “hiked” the road, depending on how slow or fast the line of traffic was moving. I was wearing my hiking shoes and ball cap. My canteen was with me. I hiked much of the eleven-mile loop road, with a sidetrack or two into the cove. It was easier to hike than to sit, crawling along in our car.

Cades Cove is beautiful and inspiring, except for the traffic. On Wednesdays, from May 4th through September 28th of this year, the park restricts vehicles. Visitors may either walk or bicycle the eleven-mile loop road (which is paved). I wonder if my wife and I will hike Cades Cove on a Wednesday one of these days. I doubt it. The route from the house to Cades Cove, which I'd take, is about a two-hour drive one way. We'd have to overnight in a cabin on Tuesday, hike Cades Cove on Wednesday, and return home. Molly, our doggy, would miss us. I don't know if we could take Molly along. We will see. The park needs to set Saturdays, not Wednesdays, as the day for hikers or bicyclers. That's my opinion. Feel free to make it your own!

Conclusion

John McCaulley (1880 - 1961) and my paternal grandfather Marion Ferrell (4/13/1880 - 11/21/1970) were both born in 1880. Papaw Ferrell lived his life in the Cave Springs area of Hawkins County, Tennessee. His wife, Mollie Gertrude Archer Ferrell (11/30/1892 - 6/11/1971), and he had eight children who lived past infancy. Their eighth child was my father. I was born in 1960, the same year that John McCaulley was interviewed. The following is a photograph of Granny and Papaw Ferrell in their younger years.

Cades Cove is downright pretty. The Cherokees lived in the cove from time immemorial. Settlers took the cove from the Cherokees. The government took the cove from the settlers' descendants. Life goes on. Just give me a horse and a dirt road, and let me live in the cove, the Heavenly Cove.

My parents and so many others have everlasting joy in the Heavenly Cove. The last conversation that my father and I shared, before he passed, was about planning to visit Cades Cove together.

Dad, tell Mom and all the others up there that I'm coming up to walk in the Cove with you! Well, I don't reckon that I'll get there today, but my plan is to get there, by God's grace and my faith!