Cades Cove is a valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Long before it became a place for farms and a national park, the Cherokee people lived in and traveled through the surrounding mountains.
How the Cherokee used the area
- Cherokee families hunted animals, fished, and gathered plants in the mountains.
- They traveled along paths that connected different communities and useful places.
- The land was part of the Cherokee homeland, even though there may not have been a large, permanent Cherokee town in Cades Cove itself.
What changed?
In the early 1800s, settlers of European descent moved into Cades Cove and built homes and farms. Later, the United States forced many Cherokee people from their homelands. In the 1830s, thousands were made to travel west in the tragic removal remembered as the Trail of Tears. Some Cherokee people avoided removal or returned to the mountains, and their descendants include members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Why this history matters
Cades Cove is now part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Its story includes both the settlers whose old buildings visitors can see and the Cherokee people whose connection to the wider region reaches back much further. The Cherokee are still here today, with living communities, culture, and history.