THURSDAY. JUNE 5, 1941
THE FRANKLIN PRESS AND THE HIGHLANDS MACON IAN
PAGE THREE
Happy Hunting Grounds
Fast Becoming Reality
Cooperative Game Areas
, Call Hunters And
Fishermen
Definite areas ' have been set
aside -within the Nantahala Na
tional Forest for the intensive prop
agation of fish and game. These
areas are co-operatively managed
by the United States Forest Serv
ice and the North Carolina Fish
and Game Commission.
Old residents of this section tell
stories of the woods: replete with
wild life. It was a practise of early
settlers to figure as a part of their
subsistance the wild life that was
theirs for the taking. But increase
of population, forest fires and log
ging soon reduced-the numbers of
wild life to the vanishing point.
It became evident years ago that
the normal administration of Na
tional Forest lands would not re
sult in a satisfactory increase of
fish and game. Also, through the
years the thinly spread adminis
trative forces of the State Fish
and Game Commission were unable
to cope with the situation. Fin
ally the idea was conceived that
by concentrating forces of both
organizations on certain areas sat
isfactory progress could be made.
A meeting was held at which U.
S. Forest Service and State Fish
and Game officials were present.
.It was decided that well consoli
dated areas of National Forest
lands 'be designated at Coopera
tive Game management areas. The
Forest Service furnished the phy
sical equipment necessary . for the
operation of the area, while the
State Fish and Game furnished the
warden and enforced the state fish
and game laws.
Gam. Araas Formad
With this understanding arrived
at by the two agencies within the
state who were vitally interested
in the promotion of Fish and Game
activities, there was set aside ap
. proximately ten miles west of
Franklin the first of these areas
within the Nantahala National
Forest. This area was called the
Wayah Game Refuge and covered
an area of more than 10,000 acres
of National Forest lands,
There rapidly followed the estab
lishment of other areas as the opr
eration of this fish and game ref
uge proved such a success, In rap
id succession there was established
the Standing Indian co-operative
area, also in Macon county, and
covering 30,000 acres, the Fires
Creek area in Clay county, and the
most recent of all areas, the San
teetlah co-operative game area in
Graham county. This lat mention
ed, the largest of all, includes some
40,000 acres.
Sportsmen are unanimous in
their acclamation of the Santeetlah
Game Area which" they claim comes
nearest to meeting the specifica
tions of the Indians mythical Hap
py Hunting Grounds.
Dmt Distributed
All these areas as they are
created must go through a biologic
al adjustment period. Starling from
a scratch the fish and game must
have time to repopulate them
selves. There must . be a period
during which certain species, which
have vanished must be replanted.
For exanfple, last winter the .For
est Service transplanted 40 deer
from the Pisgah game refuge aaid
distributed rhese among the vari
ous co-operative game areas within
the Nantahala National. Forest as
dictated by the game specialists
who had made their determina
tions by observations om the
ground and by actual count 6f
the deer population.
Fiah Raatockad
An extensive program of fish
planting has been carried out over
a period of years. Franklin resi
dents are well acquainted , with the
Arrowood fish rearing pools where
there are annually raised between
50,000 and 75,000 trout which are
planted within the cooperative game
areas. Franklin residents will also
recall that the Wayah Game Area
was closed to fishing for a number
of years. Then, the restocking pro
gram completed, that satisfactory
point was; reached when ardent
fishermen could again satisfy that
Isaac Walton urge and, casting a
fly upon the rippling waters of
Gamp Branch and Rough Fork, be
assured of the thrill that comes
with that swirl of Water and dis
appearance of the lure that tells
a man he has hooked another
speckled beauty of the Appa
lachian mountains. ,
The fish restocking within the
cooperative game areas has pro
gressed to the point where the
streams are open regularly each
weekend of the summer. Now fish
ermen from all parts of the state
as well as many from far distant
points congregate to avail them
selves of a sport such as cannot
be found anywhere' else in this
section of the country.
Bear And Boa
Bear and boar hunts have al
ready been inaugurated on the
Santeetlah Game area in Graham
county. There is but one other
Hold
That
Pose
See
CRISP
a
For Portraits
Commercial Photography
Kodak Finishing
a
For Samples of Crisp's
Work See This Issue of
The Franklin Press.
Angel Museum
Preserves Priceless Relics
Of Macon History
'That coverlet", said Tommy
Angel, "was on the loom when
the Civil War started". He was
showing the museum articles that
line the walls of the . Jalcony in
his drug store, and was raising
glimpses through the windows of
the past that recalled old customs
and events.
"My grandmother) Mrs. William
Berry, " and her sister lived ,on
Rabbit Creek then and were work
ing on the coverlet together, my
mother says. The yarn was dyed
with walnut dye."
The soft color and lovely intri
cate patterns were repeated with
variations in other old coverlets
that he showed.
My eyes wandered and he laugh
ed, when I said, "What , under the
sun is that?" He picked up a
black iron tong-like object and
opening it placed inside an old
pewter spoon which fitted exactly.
"It's an old spoon mold," he
answered. "Folks in the old days
had to make a lot of their own
equipment you know. They made
their own gun shot, too."
From a wall hung with old guns
of all sizes and fashions he took
a leather pouch and an old powder
horn. From the pouch he extracted
a bullet mold and a handful of
largt round shot. "Bullets had to
be made1 to fit individual guns."
Cherokee Curio
He hung the horn and pouch
back on the wall and .showed a
box full of shot. "That was plowed
up", he said, "by Gilmer Jones on
the old Hall farm, the one time
location of a Cherokee Indian vil
lage. They were probably left by
General Rutherford's army when
he made a raid and destroyed the
village. Last year the North Caro
lina Historial Society placed an
historical : marker there you can
see. Broken pieces of pottery,
like these were also found on the
field covering the old town site."
Cases of gems; minerals, Indian
relics, pottery bits, quaint pipes,
and rows and rows of arrow heads
of all sizes range along the walls.
One oddly-shaped pipe with queer
tubular copper beads was found to
gether with a skeleton beyond the
Cozad roller mill when the founda
tion was being dug for a house.
An odd spinning machine told
of the inventiveness of one pioneer
and stood together with spinning
wheels and other weaving equip
ment. Nearby was a hand-made
toll measure used by a miller to
take his portion of the grain he
milled. It was a small wooden
basket held together not by nails,
but only a few tiny wooden pegs
and cleverly arranged pieces' of
wood. '
Record Of Old Day
A ragged bullet-shot flag with
thirteen stars told of long past
struggles, and old documents told
more tales of the past. One of
the latter is a marriage license
written in 1866 to Adam and Let
tie Angel, free colored persons
owned prior to emancipation of
slavery by J. D. Watson of Knox
ville, Miss., and S. Enloe of Jack
son county, N. G, who had "ac
knowledged they were married ac
cording to the custom of the Afric
an race on September 12, 1824.
Another documtnt yellowed with
age was a receipt issued in 1833
to Thomas Angel by James Angel
who had received as part of an
estate, "one negro boy called
Adam, valued at $405."
place in the country where the
ferocious and hard charging Rus
sian boar can be found. That is in
the adjacent mountain country of
East Tennessee.
So successful has been the in
itial hunt that another bear and
boar hunt has been planned for
late this fall. The genial C. N.
Mease, state game .supervisor lo
cated in 'Asheville will be taking
applications for these parties short
ly after the fishing season closes
in September. It is anticipated that
with the coloring of the fall leaves
hunters will again be gathering up
their dogs and treking to that one
and only section of North Carolina
where bear and boar may be
hunted.
Visitors Attracted
Sportsmen continue to visit these
areas in .increasing numbers, and
it is most satisfying to officials of
the Nantahala National Forest and
the State Fish and Game Commis
sion that the general public has
received, their efforts with such
unanimous acclimation.
It is hoped that in the near
future the deer population in these
co-operative areas will have so
adjusted itself that deer hunts may
be arranged. Moreover, the day
is not far off when hunts for small
game, for turkey and for grouse
will be held.
As the years' go by these areas
will be increasingly valuable not
only to the sportsman for his rec
reation, but also to the general
public as a means of attracting
tourists to this section. Local resi
dents will also be able to find em
ployment as guides while business
men of adjacent towns will profit
from the sales of sporting goods,
lodging, meals, gasoline, etc
These game areas are in line
with the Forest Service multiple
use policy of the lands it admin-iisters.
11 fTt; I:.
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PaBoraima
Franklin's Most Modern
Tourist Accomodations
Modern Cottages
Private or Connecting Baths
Innerspring Mattresses
Spacious Dining Room
Well Prepared Food, Wide Variety
Open 7 A. M. to 11P.M.
A Glorious View
Encircles the Spacious Grounds of
PANORAMA COURTS
Situated on a high point that offers cool
ness, beauty and comfort to guests.
Franklin, The Beautiful
Tourist Town
In the Heart of the Nantahalas
, Offers Hospitality
and
A Happy Vacation
4
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