I wonder how many of you reading this blog, have ever heard of Cade's Cove. This iconic "abandoned" mountain town is well known and well loved by many. Somehow this place makes each person feel like it is only there for them. That this is their spot, their memory, their "place".
But it is this entitlement that is ruining it. Over the past several years, this once peaceful echo of a bygone era, has become nothing more than a drive-thru zoo, I mean come on, we are all ENTITLED to our very own photo of Black Bears in their "natural habitat" right? Okay, lets not get off topic... If you have heard of Cade's Cove, than you have probably seen the popular TRASH article written by Jason Fishman, claiming that a network of tunnels runs under the John Oliver cabin. You can access the article by clicking here. While this article does not hold any factual data about the true location, description of uses for the tunnel/caves in question, not all of this article should be scoffed at. The area known as Cade's Cove historically was referred to as "Caves Cove" and was phonetically changed over time. This nickname stuck because there does happen to be a network of caves, and karsts which connect and drain directly into Cade's Cove. Many scientists have dutifully hand drawn maps of miles worth of caves in the GSMNP. Much of East Tennessee was actually a prehistoric sea, because of this, the underlying ground is composed of Limestone. This limestone wears away easily, and when water repeatedly beats its way through, it becomes a cave. Much of the Native American history is actually lost here, sure you hear about the Cherokee, and everyone local seems to claim that they too share some genetic past with them. But what is not well known is that the Cherokee were actually the last to arrive. The mounds they used were built by their distant ancestors and many of the Cherokee moved into seclusion, using the cave networks, and physical land features found and used by previous tribes. Once you learn about this, the story about the network of lost Native American Cave cities becomes a not too distant idea. Still not convinced? Here is something that might blow your mind. Did you know that the US lost so many marines at Iwo jima due to their misunderstanding of cave systems? The Japanese were hiding 20,000 troops inside a network of tunnels in the dormant volcano at the head of the Island. This just proves to remind us not to think so ethnocentrically and to be open to and notice things that might be out of our personal norm. Now why would they purposefully provide misinformation you ask? Well, simply put, they want to keep you out of those caves... Why? Well, that is for another post!
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