Colorful Characters of the Great Smokies and Smoky Mountain Railways

Colorful Characters of the Great Smoky Mountains. Join award winning author Bob Plott as he discusses his fourth book and weaves the lively stories of vibrant and intriguing characters such as the Cherokee chiefs Yonaguska, Oconostota, Dragging Canoe and their allies such as John Watts, along with their combatants—Robert Rogers, Quintin Kennedy, King Haigler, the Stockbridge Mohicans, Francis Marion and others, as well as modern day mountain icons such as Von Plott, Charles Miller and Earl Lanning.

Smoky Mountain Railways. The Great Smoky Mountains were a remote and inaccessible place with no major highways or railroads until well after the Civil War. Using first enslaved and later convict labor—which was in effect legalized slavery -- the WNCRR and Murphy Branch connected the mountains with the remainder of the state by 1891. The history of the line is story like no other – a tale of tragedy, heroism, brains, blood, sweat and tears, nitroglycerin and humor.

Join award winning local authors Bob and Jacob Plott as they tell the story of a line that refused to die and the resurgence of the GSMR today. Program will be followed by a book signing, and a question and answer session with the authors.