“I wish I could name every one of the men and women who have worked devotedly to see this new national park come into being, but I am sure you will join me in appreciation of the persistent and idealistic interest of Mr. Kephart, who not only loved these mountains and loved the people, but saw in them a national treasure.”

— Ray Lyman Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior, Washington, D.C., November 1931

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) wasn’t officially founded until 1934, three years after Horace Kephart’s death in April 1931. But Kephart died knowing that the park was going to be a reality. Indeed, shortly before his death, he had represented Swain County in Washington, D.C., when state park officials from North Carolina and Tennessee transferred the titles of the lands purchased by them to be used for the GSMNP over to the United States government.

Since the early 1920s, Kephart had devoted almost all of his time and energy to the establishment of the GSMNP, the first large park east of the Mississippi. His inner motivation can be readily surmised. He had arrived in the Smokies region seeking a “Back of Beyond” where he might engage in a healing process that involved a backcountry lifestyle. And that place of refuge was exactly what he found, especially when he resided alone from 1904-1907 in the remote cabin site deep in the heart of the Smokies. That period became for him a spiritual touchstone of sorts, providing the vivid experiences that fueled his desire to see the region “preserved” as a national park. His public explanation was to the point: “I owe my life to these mountains, and I want them preserved that others might benefit by them as I have.” It was that simple.

Kephart joined forces with the splendid Japanese photographer George Masa, whose studio was located in Asheville but who spent as much time in Bryson City and the Smokies with “Kep” as he could. They were close friends and a formidable duo when it came to promoting the national park concept: Kephart wrote magazine and newspaper articles articulating the concept that were illustrated by Masa’s scenic images.

A seminal publication of this sort was a large-format pamphlet titled “A National Park in the Great Smoky Mountains” (Bryson City, N.C.: The Swain County Chamber of Commerce, 1925). One needs to keep in mind that Kephart — never the complete loner he is often depicted as being — was a member of the Swain County Chamber, as was his friend Kelly Bennett, a pharmacist who served several terms in the state legislature.

The pamphlet consisted of Kephart’s text, which explored topics like ”Why National Parks Are Needed,” “A New Wonderland,” “The Forest of the Great Smokies,” “Roads To The New Park,” and “Ideal Camping Country.” Five Masa photos visually enhanced this text. These included a cover shot titled “Sunrise in the Smokies” (probably taken from Andrews Bald) that captured mist rising in the valleys far below. There were also two full-page maps. One provided the big picture, depicting “Main Routes to Neighboring States” from the mid-Atlantic states. The other provided a close-up perspective of “The Smoky Mountains National Park And Its Environs” in relation to Western North Carolina and east Tennessee. This sort of systematic approach became a hallmark of the park movement.

Rightly, no single individual has been recognized as the “Father” or “Mother” of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Many on both the state and national levels contributed significantly. The fairest and most readable overview of this aspect of the park’s history is put forth in Daniel S. Pierce’s The Great Smokies: From Natural Habitat to National Park (Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, 2000). Pierce is correct when he categorizes Kephart’s contributions among the “heroic efforts of regional boosters like David Chapman, Ann Davis, W.P. Davis, Horace Kephart, Mark Squires, and Charles Webb.” Kephart’s name, however, has stood out through the years; in part, because his contributions were substantive, but also because he — unlike all others — wrote Our Southern Highlanders and become a colorful, somewhat controversial and widely-recognized figure. On the national level his was the name most closely associated with the southern mountains in general and the GSMNP in particular.

It’s not improbable that — despite the occasional carping by would-be revisionists — this will continue to be the case.

From the ridge above Kephart’s gravesite one has a panoramic view out over Bryson City up the Deep Creek watershed to the high ridgeline that divides North Carolina and Tennessee. Newfound Gap, where U.S. 441 crosses the state line between Cherokee and Gatlinburg, is clearly delineated. One could stop there at the parking area, read a plaque stating that this is the spot where President F.D. Roosevelt dedicated the GSMNP in 1940, and then walk north a few miles along the Appalachian Trail to Mt. Kephart.

Two months before his death, Kephart was honored by a decision of the U.S. Geographic Board designating that this peak at 6,217 feet be so named. Some years later a rise on the southwestern side of Mt. Kephart was named Masa Knob. At that spot the contributions of the two friends — mountain spirits, if you will — are properly commemorated.

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.