Sept. 9 -- As we continued upstream, the mountains grew larger and the scenery more breathtaking. Below this posting are photos taken as we cruised through the spectacular Grand Canyon of the Tennessee.
The Chickamauga Indians occupied five Lower Towns of the Tennessee in this area. One of them was Nickajack for which the lake was named . Chief Breath and his tribe lived outside the mouth of a large limestone cave there. Chief Dragging Canoe and his tribe lived in a village called Running Water. In 1794 Major James Ore with 500 U.S. troops led the Nickajack Expedition . Guided by Joseph Brown, who had grown up as a captive of the Chickamaugas, the Indians were decimated, ultimately resulting in a treaty with the Chickamaugas and the Cherokees ending in the Trail of Tears.
At Mile 431.1 we passed Hales Bar Light and entered the Narrows, which used to be a treacherous area of shoals and rapids. There are three areas known as the Frying Pan, the Skillet, and the Boiling Pot named by early boatmen who thought the splattering, flying and frothy waters resembled cooking utensils at work. Another section was called the "Suck," which was known for massive turbulence caused by large underwater caves. It took many men, using a pulley system, to manually pull steamers through this dangerous area. In the mid-1800's, efforts began to cure the Narrows problems, but it wasn't until 1967 when the Nickajack Dam was opened that the navigation problems were completely solved.
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