A Garden of Eden

"But, oh, what an ocean of mountains."
Elisha Mitchell

For early travellers, the mountain ranges of western North Carolina seemed like dark fortresses rising ominously from the Piedmont, and often were shrouded in mist. When these travelers entered the mountains, however, they discovered a natural paradise, filled with rare plants and flowers, abundant wildlife and beautiful vistas from the mountain peaks.

The earliest scientific inquiry in the mountains of North Carolina was for new plants. A mid-Eighteenth Century formal garden craze in Europe and England sent botanists like William and John Bartram, Andre Michaux, Mark Catesby and John Fraser into the region. They discovered and collected plants like rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias to meet the European demand for exotic specimens.

There was also great interest in the mountains themselves, particularly their height. In the early Nineteenth Century, Mount Washington in New Hampshire was considered the highest peak east of the Mississippi. Investigations by Dr. Elisha Mitchell in 1835 demonstrated that the mountain near Asheville, NC that now bears his name was higher.

The mountains continue to be of interest to scientists. Alternative energy specialists and hang glider pilots both find uses for the strong mountain winds. Contemporary geologists have found new information about the geological formation of the Blue Ridge on its steep rock faces.

A Question of Mountains  |  Remainders of a Vast Sea
Wind and the Mountains