'coochee
for all practical purposes, the 'coochee project is done --- i sent them what should be, but probably won't quite be, the final draft a couple of days ago and got all my notes and digital files in order yesterday --- the editor is relentless, however, so there'll be some details, but after almost two years, it shan't rule my life any longer ---
all in all, it's been a real privilege and a blast to do --- the project came along at the perfect time for me, and with the time and the absence of any real profit motive, although i was paid, i was able to do the kind of site history i've always wanted to do, literally from the ground up --- and did it for what has always been one of my favorite places in the state
the valleys are at the very upper edge of the piedmont, in the shadow of the blue ridge --- humans have moved through the area for 10,000 year and have lived there and cultivated the rich bottom lands along the upper reaches of the chattahoochee river for 2,000 years --- despite tales to the contrary, desoto did not pass through in the sixteenth century, but the sorry history of our treatment of the cherokee nation was acted out in full in these valleys --- sautee, nacoochee, and chota were all in ruins by the 1790s and after the war of 1812, the cherokee were entirely displaced by white farmers from north carolina ---
a few of new residents were made rich when gold was discovered on nearby dukes creek in 1828, but prospectors nearly ruined many of the surrounding hillsides in their quest for gold --- after the civil war descendants of slaves, many of whom had been miners, coalesced into one of rural northeast georgia's few african-american communities ---
in the early twentieth century, industrial logging ruined much of what the prospectors had missed, exhausted the supply of timber, and moved on, leaving behind a derelict mill town named helen in the next valley ---
by the mid-twentieth century, the forests, and wildlife, were returning, thanks in large part to the national forest service --- the rebirth of helen as a faux alpine village in 1969 and the demand for second homes has made difficult the conservation of the rural landscape of the valleys --- they are encompassed by two national register historic districts, and this history is a small part of the efforts of the sautee nacoochee community association, with whom i contracted the work, to maintain the scenic beauty and historical integrity of this most wonderful part of the state
all in all, it's been a real privilege and a blast to do --- the project came along at the perfect time for me, and with the time and the absence of any real profit motive, although i was paid, i was able to do the kind of site history i've always wanted to do, literally from the ground up --- and did it for what has always been one of my favorite places in the state
the valleys are at the very upper edge of the piedmont, in the shadow of the blue ridge --- humans have moved through the area for 10,000 year and have lived there and cultivated the rich bottom lands along the upper reaches of the chattahoochee river for 2,000 years --- despite tales to the contrary, desoto did not pass through in the sixteenth century, but the sorry history of our treatment of the cherokee nation was acted out in full in these valleys --- sautee, nacoochee, and chota were all in ruins by the 1790s and after the war of 1812, the cherokee were entirely displaced by white farmers from north carolina ---
a few of new residents were made rich when gold was discovered on nearby dukes creek in 1828, but prospectors nearly ruined many of the surrounding hillsides in their quest for gold --- after the civil war descendants of slaves, many of whom had been miners, coalesced into one of rural northeast georgia's few african-american communities ---
by the mid-twentieth century, the forests, and wildlife, were returning, thanks in large part to the national forest service --- the rebirth of helen as a faux alpine village in 1969 and the demand for second homes has made difficult the conservation of the rural landscape of the valleys --- they are encompassed by two national register historic districts, and this history is a small part of the efforts of the sautee nacoochee community association, with whom i contracted the work, to maintain the scenic beauty and historical integrity of this most wonderful part of the state
1 comment:
accomplishment. Congrats on the completion of the project. when can we read it ?
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