Those of us who are interested in the history of Western North Carolina and adjacent areas here in the southern mountains are always on the lookout for new sources of information. For the most part, we tend to place a priority on printed materials like books and journals. In general, these seem more “real” or “valid” to us than videos, TV documentaries or the Internet. But there are, of course, exceptions. One of these is a terrific Web site titled “Appalachian Summit: A Documentary History, 1540-1900” that is now complete and online at www.appalachiansummit.tripod.com/.

“Appalachian Summit” is unique in this context in that it presents a historical narrative via primary sources materials without extended analysis by the compiler. At the site’s home page the user is advised succinctly in two regards: (1)”Appalachian Summit is that region where the Southern Appalachian Mountains reach their greatest height. The area includes all of western North Carolina and parts of eastern Tennessee,” and (2) “With the exception of short introductions, all of the text is drawn from primary sources. Rather than write a history of the area, I have attempted to let that history unfold in the words of those who experienced it.”

That’s it. What follows is a judicious rendering of the region’s history as it unfolded in contemporary printed documents dating from Hernando de Soto’s arrival in 1540 until 1900. The mostly omniscient compiler, Jerry Trivette, appears on stage only very briefly. But his presence is felt throughout in regard to his discerning selection and ordering of materials.

No summary of “Appalachian Summit” can do justice to the range and depth of its 900 pages of content. In brief, let me just note that it consists of three parts. “One: Pisgah” delineates the early exploration of the piedmont and mountains as well as the interactions of the explorers, settlers, and Native Americans, primarily the Cherokees, from 1540 until 1777. In addition to narratives relating to de Soto, the user is presented extracts from materials pertaining to the early explorations by adventurers like Juan Pardo (1567), John Lederer (1670), James Needham and Gabriel Arthur (1673), and James Moore (1690). There are also extracts from letters and documents that enumerate in graphic detail the ensuing years of diplomacy, trade, and warfare between the colonialists and the Cherokees. “Two: Qualla” delineates the years between the end of the American Revolution and the Cherokee Removal of 1838. And “Three: Carolina” delineates the years between 1837 and 1900, with considerable emphasis placed upon documents relevant to the Civil War in the mountains and the soon to be exploited timber resources, as well as descriptions by late nineteenth century travel writers like Edward King, Frances Fisher Tiernan (a popular novelist who used the pen name “Christian Reid”), Wilbur G. Zeigler and Ben S. Grosscup, and Charles Dudley Warner.

I stumbled upon “Appalachian Summit” via an Internet search shortly after it was initiated online in 2001. It was fascinating to observe the steady progression of materials that followed until a notice was posted several weeks ago that the massive undertaking had been completed. At that time, I decided I wanted to meet the creator. So, I telephoned Trivette and invited him to meet me at a restaurant for lunch.

A somewhat reserved but affable fellow now retired from a career in the textile industry, Trivette grew up in Winston-Salem but has been visiting WNC all of his life. He has lived in the Fines Creek area of Haywood County for 20 years, residing on property that his stepfather once owned. This Piedmont-mountain connection is obviously of significance in that “Appalachian Summit” is, in part, very much concerned with the 17th century exploration of the Carolina Piedmont that led to the subsequent exploration of the mountainous areas to the west. Trivette told me that that part of his compilation was his favorite to work on; so much so, in fact, that he’s contemplating a more detailed study of the routes followed by each of the early explorers.

“I like letting the contemporary documents speak for themselves,” he said. “I view the ‘Appalachian Summit’ site as being sort of like a stage, with each creator of a given document being momentarily onstage before exiting. Some people don’t like that approach. They want their history to be spoon-fed.”

You don’t have to spend much time with Trivette before becoming aware that he has immersed himself in the work of poets and essayists like William Carlos Williams, Gary Snyder, and Wendell Berry, who emphasized the importance of particular places and the significance of each individual’s relationship to a chosen landscape.

“I feel like the more clearly you know where you are the better you know who you are,” he observed.

George Ellison is a writer who lives in Bryson City. He wrote the biographical introductions for the reissues of two Appalachian classics: Horace Kephart’s Our Southern Highlanders and James Mooney’s History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Readers can contact him at P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, N.C. 28713, or at ellisongeorge@cs.com.