The story of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, who came up with the idea, how it came into reality, use of eminent domain, effect on the people who lived in the region taken for the Park, how it's doing now and how it will survive in the future.

A creative non-fiction work built on stories about actual feuds, murder of individuals and disasters that occurred throughout Great Smoky Mountains prior to the area becoming a national park. The stories read like excerpts from a novel, but are based on true stories, some information taken from court documents and intervews. Reading these stories helps give the reader an image and a voice to those who used to live in the mountain areas of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. "As usual, Dr. Palmer spins a good yarn in the style, and often in the vernacular, of her beloved Appalachian kin...