A book of this scope requires the help of many people and resources. I am particularly grateful for the research and editorial assistance of Paige Blomgren, Bob Gale, Carrie A. A. Frye, Peter Gregutt, Clare Hanrahan, and Ashley Felkel. My thanks, too, go out to Sylvia Mann, Tracey Turner, J. P. McCann, Laura Elliott, Glenn Taylor, Richard Bruce, Kevin Moorhead, Jerry West, Ernest Klatt, and Ina Parr and her coworkers at the Blue Ridge Parkway for their assistance. I am indebted to Dr. Hal Mahan, who wrote the introduction, and his wife, Laura, for their guidance and friendship. To ensure accuracy, I called on the expertise of several people, especially Dr. J. W. Miller, head of environmental sciences at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Bob and Gussie Gray and Al Sommerville, volunteers with the Blue Ridge Parkway; Nancy Gray at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Burt Kornegay of Slickrock Expeditions; and Dwayne Stutzman, Mountain Region trails specialist, also served as patient and careful proofers. A special thanks to the staff at Asheville’s Pack Memorial Library, especially those working the North Carolina Desk, where they dig and search until they find just the right fact, map, or article. I also want to express my gratitude for the fine, historic work of the WPA and the CCC, without whom we would not have so many wonderful places to write about. Finally, there are many friends who loaned books and offered support: Glenda and Phillip Herman, Virginia McCullough, Nancy Byer, and, as always, Don McNair.