Introduction
Over the years, several trips have been memorable to Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My parents took us boys there. I remember taking a girlfriend or two there. Other times, it was with friends or alone.
Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I have been to Clingman's Dome a few times. On Sunday afternoon, 10/28/2007, I took the photograph below of the observation tower on Clingman's Dome. Mrs. Appalachian Irishman was standing centered, wearing the light blue sweatshirt. You're “busted,” dear!
Once, after my mother (Betty Lou Wood Ferrell, 11/24/1932-12/27/2000) went to see Jesus, my father (Earl Ferrell, 9/17/1927-1/25/2008) admitted to us boys that he had hiked up the short and paved but steep trail to the overlook and walked up the ramp to the viewing area (where Mrs. Appalachian Irishman was standing in the photograph above). This was after we knew about my father's damaged ticker (heart). Dad, however, was aware of his limitations and what he could and couldn't do. He knew what he could do if he took his time. Dad had hiked Clingman's Dome even with a damaged heart! Yes, my father was tough.
“Clingman's Dome,” not “Clingmans Dome”
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park website has a section about Clingman[']s Dome & Newfound Gap Area. You may wish to explore that section.
As an aside, I must point out a common grammatical mistake. The correct spelling is Clingman's Dome, not Clingmans Dome. The apostrophe is required, as is explained farther into this article.
Clingman's Dome Could Be Renamed Kuwahi
The Land Changed Hands
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a sovereign nation, may petition the federal government to restore the original Cherokee name Kuwahi to Clingman's Dome. I heard this the other day on a local television news station. An online source is “Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians may ask feds to restore name 'Kuwahi' to Clingmans Dome,” WBIR, by WBIR Staff, published 7/8/2022. The Tribal Council considers the petition today (7/14/2022).
“Kuwahi” means “mulberry place” in English. Kuwahi has historical significance to the Cherokee people. The large Cherokee nation lived in the land for centuries. The Eastern Band of Cherokees, a smaller nation, still lives there.
The federal government forced the native Cherokee people off their land during the Trail of Tears (1830-1850). My bookshelf includes the book Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation, by John Ehle (12/13/1925-3/24/2018), published 1988. Years ago, I bought and read the book. As an understatement, the moral failure of this once-great nation toward the Cherokee people is profoundly sad. The ideal principal in the Pledge of Allegiance of “liberty and justice for all” failed the Cherokee nation. Settlers took over their land for about a hundred years.
Of course, the federal government has owned the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for almost a hundred years. In 1934, the United States Congress chartered the park. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1940. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park started during the Great Depression when the socialistic New Deal was underway.
By the way, I happened to find, at Social History for Every Classroom (SHEC), an interesting letter from 3/7/1934. See Anonymous, “A Citizen Claims the New Deal is a Path Towards Socialism,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers. New Deal socialism concerned that writer eighty-eight years ago. Concerns about socialism continue to this day. My parents were still children in 1934.
The creation of the park forced the settlers, whose ancestors had taken the land from the Cherokee, off their land. The “greater good” paid those folks a little money, even if they didn't want to sell, to get them off their land. This was another moral failure in American history, from the standpoint of “liberty and justice for all.”
The land has changed hands three times: from the Cherokee to the settlers and to the federal government. In the current “woke” (whatever it is) culture, names are changing, monuments are coming down, and history is being rewritten. I understand why the Eastern Band of Cherokee wants to rename Clingman's Dome to Kuwahi. Please see the next section.
Thomas Clingman
The article “Thomas Clingman (1812 – 1897),” North Carolina History Project, by Jonathan Martin, undated, chronicles the life of Thomas Clingman, after whom Clingman's Dome was named. (That is why “Clingman's” is correct, not “Clingmans.”) Thomas Clingman, a Democrat, served in the United States Senate from 1858 to 1861. In error, he thought that one man could own another (slavery). He held the Confederate Army rank of colonel during the War Between the States.
I had never known the story behind the naming of Clingman's Dome mountain until I learned, a few days ago, that the Eastern Band of Cherokee wants to rename Clingman's Dome Kuwahi. Again, I understand why they want to rename their ancestral mountain.
Knox County, Tennessee, Needs to Be Renamed!
I decided to find out how Knoxville and Knox County, Tennessee, were named. This section is about what I learned.
"Fun Facts About Knoxville," City of Knoxville, includes the following:
Knoxville was named after Henry Knox, President Washington's War Secretary.
Indians were the first settlers of Knoxville and East Tennessee. By the time the first European settlers appeared, the Cherokees dominated the region.
Who was Henry Knox? The web page “Historic Valley Forge, Who Served Here? General Henry Knox: Page 2," US History, includes the following (yellow highlighting added for emphasis):
Knox was elected Secretary at War by Congress in 1785, and in 1789 he was appointed Secretary of War in President Washington's new cabinet.
Conflicts with various groups of Native peoples primarily occupied Knox in his role as Secretary of War. Knox oversaw a government policy of steady removal of native people, including the Creek and Cherokee, from their traditional lands.
The Cherokee people did not receive “liberty and justice for all” due to Henry Knox (and certainly many others). Further research confirms that the general area around Knoxville and Knox County was a hunting ground for the Cherokee people. See The Knoxville Focus archived article by Mike Steely and the City of Knoxville: History of the City.
If the Eastern Band of Cherokees wanted to petition the Knox County government and the Knoxville City government to rename Knox County and Knoxville to an appropriate Cherokee name, I would understand.
After all, my ancestry is predominately Irish, and I know the oppression that the Irish endured under the British Empire and as immigrants to America. (See, for example, my March 10, 2021, and January 30, 2022, articles.) I don't like “the fighting Irish” nickname for the University of Notre Dame football team even if it has a positive connotation.
Conclusion
It is the reader's choice to determine if this article is written sarcastically or seriously. Perhaps it is written with both. Go woke or go broke! You can figure it out.
If the federal government decides to rename Clingman's Dome Kuwahi while this nation's demise into “Socialist Utopian Oblivion” continues, I won't mind saying “Kuwahi.” Please, however, forgive me if my slip of the tongue says “Clingman's Dome!” I would not want to be “canceled!” As if anyone could “cancel” this strong-willed Irish-American!
This once-great nation did not follow the biblical worldview when it took land from the Cherokees and engaged in other evil activities. At times, however, this nation has predominately followed the biblical worldview. It does not now. The majority seem to be guided by a range of unbiblical worldviews.
Wake up (not “woke up”), America! Return to the principles of the founding fathers, which are based on the biblical worldview! Stand on the Rock. All other ground is sinking sand.
In 1834, Edward Mote wrote the hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.” The first verse states:
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
The inspiration for the hymn comes from the conclusion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapters 5-7. Jesus' conclusion in chapter seven, verses 24-27 (New International Version), is as follows:
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
Do I hear an amen? The Solid Rock is Christ, not Clingman's Dome (Kuwahi)!
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