Kephart classic gets reissue

Great Smoky Mountains Association has released of a new edition of “Our Southern Highlanders,” the classic collection of essays on mountain life and lore by author Horace Kephart. 

Kephart lived in the Hazel Creek and Bryson City, N.C., areas from 1904 to 1931 and advocated for the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mt. Kephart, Kephart Prong, Kephart Prong Trail and Kephart Shelter are all park features named for him.

 “This expanded third edition includes eight articles written by Kephart that were not included in any of the earlier editions,” said Steve Kemp, GSMA’s interpretive products and services director. “Newly included are stories featuring rifle making, moonshiners and revenuers, mountain culture, and Kephart’s feelings regarding a proposed new national park in the Smokies.”

“From the high divide that marks the state line between North Carolina and Tennessee I heard the snort of a locomotive, one of those cog-wheel affairs that are specially built for mountain climbing,” Kephart wrote. “With a steam-loader and three camps of a hundred men each, it was despoiling the Tennessee forest. Slowly, but inexorably, a leviathan was crawling into the wilderness and was soon to consume it."

The entire book has been electronically typeset for the first time, said Kemp, making it much more readable than previous printings. Additionally, Bryson City author George Ellison has written an entirely new introduction for this edition, highlighting the fruits of recent research on Kephart and his work. 

For the first time the book includes a comprehensive index and new photos by George Masa and others, and Bryson City watercolor painter Elizabeth Ellison, author Ellison’s wife, illustrates the work with a specially-commissioned painting for its cover. 

“There’s a reason this book has been in print for more than 100 years,” said Kemp. “It is one of a handful of landmark works on southern Appalachian culture, written by someone who knew and respected the people and had the patience and skills to tell their story accurately and in great detail.”

Since its inception in 1953, Great Smoky Mountains Association has given more than $32 million to support the ongoing educational, scientific and preservation efforts of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Support for the nonprofit association is derived primarily from online and visitor center sales of educational products and membership dues.  

For more information about GSMA, visit SmokiesInformation.org or call 888.898.9102, ext. 226.