Abstract:
In 1904, Horace Kephart left his job as a librarian in St. Louis and his estranged wife and six children, settling in the mountain wilderness of North Carolina where he hoped to recover his spirit and rediscover his gifts. He first lived in the Hazel Creek area of Swain County and later moved to Bryson City, the county seat. Two of his books, CAMPING AND WOODCRAFT and OUR SOUTHERN HIGHLANDERS, are considered classics in their fields and are still in print one hundred years later. In his later years, he was active in promoting the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mount Kephart was named for him in honor of his work for the park.