Strangers in High Places: The Story of the Great Smoky Mountains

by Michael Frome

In this expanded edition of his classic Strangers in High Places, Michael Frome continues to capture the attention and admiration of nature lovers, environmentalists, and professionals as he reviews the last quarter-century in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Frome's superbly written account tells the story of the Great Smoky Mountains and their inhabitants—Eastern Cherokee, back-country settlers, lumbermen, moonshiners, bears and boars.  Frome chronicles the power struggles, legislation, and land transactions surrounding the creation of the national park and discusses the continuing threats to the park's natural beauty.  
Frome's recent conversations with residents, new and old, along with a complement of historic and contemporary photographs, confirm the views stated in the book's original 1966 edition.
The author brings his knowledge, experience, and insights to bear on "one of God's special places." He suggests alternatives to commercial overdevelopment and the destruction of the Great Smokies' flora and fauna, citing recent cases such as the Tellico Dam project and the continuing pollution of the Pigeon River.  Always emphasizing our inevitable relationship with our surroundings, Frome relates the story of the Great Smoky Mountains with respect and affection for the region, its people, and their history.

Michael Frome ranks among the foremost American authors on travel and conservation.  His interests are closely associated with national parks, national forests, and natural beauty in the United States and other countries.  He has been a columnist and correspondent for major newspapers and magazines and a university lecturer.  He is author of Conscience of a Selected Essays.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Nature, Historical, Southern

450 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“These hills demand time and patience. Entering one must take them on their own terms. They defy the cult of haste, being old and artful and surprising.”

I’m all for what defies the cult of haste. I’m all for the millennia over the minute. I’m all in praise of the old and surprising, so it’s no wonder the Smokies are so special to me. It’s where my granddad was born. It’s a place I’ve known and loved my whole life. Any book that does justice to these mountains, to the complex, mistreated, treasured organism of the Smokies— the slow and the fast, the good and the bad— is a book I’m going to love to read. And this was a great one.

Although the “good” and the “bad”— near the end of the book, Arthur Stupka, mid-hike, puts a halt to Frome’s questions:

“I wish you would stop asking what good this or that may be,” he said. “Do you mean good for you and me? Or in terms of this place where they grow?”
He was right, of course. The most important lesson to learn from the primeval forest is that nature capably writes its own rules. [As Aldo Leopold wrote,] “The last word in ignorance is the man who says of a plant or animal, ‘What good is it?’ If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not.”

[Ken Cartisano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about a place so special, that surely God must have played a hand in its preservation. Steeped in mystery, superstition, avarice and ignorance, The Great Smoky Mountains are, even to this day, glimpsed by multitudes, appreciated by many but understood by few. It is a large, glimmering gem of sequestered woodland, primeval forest, geological wonder, historical and cultural significance, and a rare dual testament to the resilience of nature, as well as the will of the people. It is, in short, a multi-faceted miracle.
This book describes all of that with uncanny attention to detail.
Some say there are too many names, too many mountains and locations to remember. but you don't have to remember anything, just let the book and the story roll over you with the inexorable force of 'The Smokies' themselves.
In fact, this is a book that you could pick up and begin reading anywhere and read it to the end without losing any comprehension of the Park's miraculous nature. It is a second edition, and so it allows us, the readers, to compare the various forces at work in the intervening editions, and then compare that to the present conditions of the Park and its surroundings.

[Luci · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book. I wish I would have finished it before going to the GSMNP. Some parts feel like they are taken right out of Kephart’s Our Southern Highlanders and added no new perspectives. Some of the places where he had fresh perspective were very surface level and left me dissatisfied. But, overall, very enjoyable, told me what I wanted to know about the making of the park, included information on the Eastern Band Cherokee, and has a sprinkling of awe and wonder.

[Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this book on my "to-read" list for years, and it did not disappoint. It even exceeded my expectations. I thought perhaps it would be somewhat dry and academic, but in reality it is very lively and vital. It is a broad-ranging, comprehensive description of the Smokies, from geological formation to political preservation. Each chapter is like watching a Heartland Series episode on WBIR. Throughout the course of my Smokies education I have read or heard a lot of this information before, but that just attests to its validity and depth. I also read plenty of new information here, and learned much more about the politics of the park's formation and the threats that persisted around the region long after being established as a national park (e.g. the insatiable thirst for more roads, more cars...). I appreciate the author's treatment of the Cherokee and his generally eco-conscious tone. I'm pleased that all of this history is catalogued in one place, and furthermore, the author provides great notes and citations for further reading.

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of this book as part of a planned trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2013. Written in 1966, the book is a good primer on the park, the people in the region, and their culture. The book will definitley give me a greater appreciation for the region during my upcoming travels to the area. It has also encouraged me to find more modern fare to continue my education about the peoples and places of the Great Smoky Mountains. I would recommend the book to anyone traveling to the region.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff on the Cherokee, William Bartram, Horace Kephart, and the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Also enjoyed the accounts of sociologists and missionaries who visited the mountains in the decades before the creation of the national park and the story of the introduction of some very tough feral pigs into the Great Smoky Mountains.

Overall, I thought this work was really interesting but it gets bogged down in the second part. I think this is because the expanded edition's last three chapters each feel stylistically like a concluding chapter.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

God's favorite part of His creation has to be the Smoky Mountains. Even so, after reading this book, I lamented that the park was ever created. What right did the government have to kick out those who had settled there for generations just to preserve it and make a park? The writing is not that exciting, but you still get an appreciation and admiration for those who lived there.

[Jessi Waugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took awhile to read - it was fairly dry, and I didn't enjoy much of the book. I love the Smoky mountains, but the stories of the people involved with their development wasn't as interesting. It would make a good read for someone less familiar with the overdevelopment of the mountains, the native american struggle, and moonshining.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strangers in High Places: The Story of the Great Smoky Mountains by Michael Frome (UT Press 1980)(917.68). This tells the cultural history of the Great Smokies as well as the backstory about the creation of the national park. My rating: 7/10, finished 2005.

[McD Crook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, informative cultural history of the Smoky Mountains. Really fleshes out a lot of the backstory of the park's creation, and the individuals who influenced the decision and actually made it happen. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys visiting the Smokies.

[Lora Elizabeth]

I am in the process of reading. I am finding it very enjoyable, since I a grew up in East Tennessee and I love the Great Smoky Mountains. I would like to read again

[Brett Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

history told in a personal way, interesting stories of culture and characters in the mountains of N carolina and tennessee.

[Christopher Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great place to start reading about the great smoky mountains and Appalachian Region. Michael Frome includes reference to all the great works that came before him like Horace Kephart.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible trove of information. a story well told.