By Robert L. Williams

• 1: Introduction
• 2: Gorge Grows Popular for Movie-Making
• 3: From Murder to Lost Gold: Legends of the Gorge
• 4: Visiting the Gorge Today
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From Murder to Lost Gold: Legends of the Gorge

The mystery of Rumbling Bald Mountain began (during modern history) in 1874 as tremors rattled dishes and broke windows. Dust, smoke and eerie sounds emanated from the rugged peak as shocks dislodged boulders inside the mountain and opened massive fissures. Residents were terrified, and even the National Speleological Society sent scientists from Washington, D.C., to investigate.

One legendary explanation for the smoke pouring from the mountain involved a mountain man and his son who fought bitterly while traveling, and never returned home. Years later, on his deathbed, the son admitted that he had killed his father, concealed the body in a mountain fissure, and burned a huge pile of brush to destroy evidence of the murder.

The mysterious Little People were part of the drama of tso-lungh, the magical tobacco plant with curative powers. According to the Cherokee legend, Dagul-Ku, the Goose, stole the sacred tobacco plant and took it to the land of Hng, where the Little People lived.

When the Cherokees tried to regain the tobacco, the Little People hurled huge rocks down upon the warriors. Then an old man magically turned himself into a giant hummingbird whose wings dislodged enormous boulders and created a giant tornado, which swept away all of the evil spirits in Hickory Nut Gorge. Today, some people insist that when the weather is just right, you can still see the Little People on the high cliffs of Hickory Nut Gorge.