Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

[4] The Precambrian rocks that comprise the high ridges surrounding the cove are Ocoee Supergroup sandstones, formed approximately one billion years ago.

Donald K. MacKay, a geologist with the National Park Service, reported that the Gregory family was still showing the cave commercially as late as 1935.

Throughout the 18th century, the Cherokee used two main trails to cross the Smokies from North Carolina to Tennessee en route to the Overhill settlements.

[16] Little is known of Chief Kade, although his existence was verified by European trader Peter Snider (1776–1867), who settled nearby Tuckaleechee Cove.

The Cherokee would linger in the surrounding forests, however, occasionally attacking settlers until 1838 when they were removed to the Oklahoma Territory during the Trail of Tears.

[18] John Oliver (1793–1863), a veteran of the War of 1812, and his wife Lurena Frazier (1795–1888) were the first permanent European settlers in Cades Cove.

The Olivers, originally from Carter County, Tennessee, arrived in 1818, accompanied by Joshua Jobe, who had initially persuaded them to settle in the cove.

While Jobe returned to Carter County, the Olivers stayed, struggling through the winter and subsisting on dried pumpkin given to them by friendly Cherokees.

Cades Cove had telephone service as early as the 1890s, when Dan Lawson and several neighbors built a phone line to Maryville.

By the 1850s, various roads connected Cades Cove with Tuckaleechee and Montvale Springs, some of which are still maintained as seasonal passes or hiking trails.

[25] Religion was an important part of life in Cades Cove from its earliest days, a reflection of the efforts of John and Lucretia Oliver.

William Howell Oliver (1857–1940), pastor of the Primitive Baptist Church from 1882 to 1940, explained: We believe that Jesus Christ Himself instituted the Church, that it was perfect at the start, suitably adopted in its organization to every age of the world, to every locality of earth, to every state and condition of the world, to every state and condition of mankind, without any changes or alterations to suit the times, customs, situations, or localities.

[30] The Primitive Baptists remained the dominant religious and political force in the cove with their meetings interrupted only by the Civil War.

Blount doctor Calvin Post (1803–1873) was believed to have set up an Underground Railroad stop within the cove in the years preceding the war.

In 1863, Confederate bushwhackers from Hazel Creek and other parts of North Carolina began making systematic raids into Cades Cove, stealing livestock and killing any Union supporter they could find.

Although this largely put an end to the raids, a band of Confederates managed to sneak into the cove and kill Gregory just two weeks later.

[36] The Chestnut Flats area of Cades Cove, located at the base of Gregory Bald, was well known for producing high-quality corn liquor.

[37] Among the more prominent moonshine distillers was Josiah "Joe Banty" Gregory (1870–1933), the son of Matilda "Aunt Tildy" Shields by her first marriage.

On the night following the raid, the barns of both William and John W. Oliver were burned, destroying a large portion of the family's livestock and tools.

The head of the Park Commission, Colonel David Chapman, received several threats, including an anonymous phone call warning him that if he ever returned to Cades Cove, he would "spend the next night in hell.

The court, however, ruled in favor of Oliver, reasoning that the federal government had never said Cades Cove was essential to the national park.

[46] For about 100 years before the creation of the national park, much farming and logging was done in the valley, as the main source of economic development for the people living in the cove, both leading to massive deforestation.

[47] It ultimately yielded to requests by the Great Smoky Mountain Conservation Association to maintain Cades Cove as a meadow.

[48] On the advice of contemporary cultural experts such as Hans Huth, the service demolished the more modern structures, leaving only the primitive cabins and barns which were considered most representative of pioneer life in early Appalachia.

The cove receives approximately 5 million visitors per year and is the most popular destination in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

The cove draws attention for numerous black bear sightings, although many enthusiasts make the trip for the abundant hiking access and the well-preserved 19th-century homesteads.