Cumberland: What’s in a Name?

From Harry Lane’s Tennessee Memories

Prince William, Duke of Cumberland

Today’s excerpt from Mr. Lane’s writings is short but he touches on a term we routinely use, calling our plateau home “the mountain”, so I wanted to be sure to include it.  I’d love to hear your comments below.

The origin of this name lies in England; the name was first applied in Tennessee when a section of what is now the Cumberland Plateau was name the Cumberland Mountains in honor of the Duke of Cumberland.

Ambiguity has arisen across the years and has continued in the application of the name.  The name Cumberland Plateau is applied to the southern section of the Appalachian Plateaus, from Kentucky through Tennessee and into northern Alabama.  The section of the Appalachian Plateaus in West Virginia, eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and southern New York is called the Allegheny Plateau.

On the other hand, there is a very rough, irregular, high section of the Cumberland Plateau – the original part of which the name was first applied – that is still known as the Cumberland Mountain.  Making things a big more confusing is the fact that many Highland Rim citizens refer to any part of the plateau as “the mountain.”  “Up on the mountain” is a commonplace expression on the Rim.

The Cumberland River flows across the Plateau in Kentucky and Tennessee leaving the plateau to cross the Highland Rim and the Central (Nashville) Basin, finally flowing back across Kentucky and entering the Ohio River not far from the mouth of the Tennessee River.  The river mouth is distant from the territory originally called Cumberland.

Tennessee Folklore in Weather Prediction

From Harry Lane’s Tennessee Memories

Among the interesting humor stories associated with weather in this area is the folklore of weather prediction.  There seem to be uncommonly many weather prognosticators in the Cumberland Plateau area, of whom the best known may be Mrs. Hellen Lane of Crab Orchard.  Many observers might readily ascribe this lore to ignorance and superstition, but there is little doubt that some folk wisom is derived from keen observation of nature.  Perhaps the long-range prognostication is not god, but it has been shown that close study of nature can often produce short-term weather forecasts with reasonable accuracy.  For example, there is an old belief that when Lookout Mountain (a continuation of Walden Ridge, part of the Cumberland Plateau) “has its’ cap on,” it will rain in about six hours.  Experience has shown that when the sky “lowers,” that is, when the cloud ceiling decreases, rain commonly follows in a short time; so this piece of folk wisdom is a reasonable prediction.

Another example of weather-forecast wisdom sometimes set forth by Tennessee prognosticators is that swallows and bats will fly closer to the ground before a rain.  This seems to be true, since these birds (and mammals, as bats are!) have sensitive inner-ear mechanisms, and a sudden drop in air pressure preceding a rain may cause them to seek the somewhat higher pressure that is found near ground level.

Still another piece of weather lore that has validity is the saying that when katydids say “Kate,” they announce the nearness of frost.  It has been demonstrated that the katydid call slackens from “Kate-ee-did-n’t” at 87° F to “Kate” at 58°F, to muteness at 55°F or below.  It follows that the gradual cooling of air in autumn will eventually silence these insects as frost approaches.  The same thing is true of the chirps of crickets.

As for the presumed associations between other natural phenomena and weather events, the writer can claim no proofs for the accuracy of studies involving wooly worms, spider webs, the number of fogs in August, and many other such “keys!” Society would be poorer, however, without such colorful weather folklore.

More about The Cumberland Plateau

Here are two short articles from Harry Lane’s Tennessee Memorie

Here’s More About the Cumberland Plateau

Mountains on a Plateau? That’s the situation of the Crab Orchard Mountains, which are located on the eastern side of the Cumberland Plateau…at least, that’s the situation if one considers these small peaks to be true mountains, and many would not.  Local usage, however, makes these “mountains,” and so the matter shall stand.

This section of the Cumberland Plateau is quite interesting geologically, for it represents the norther end of an up-folded part of the earth’s crust, (an anticline) that, farther south in the Sequatchie Valley area, has cracked off along the fold and moved up and over another portion of the plateau.  North of the relatively stable Crab Orchard Mountains is the enormous block of rock that is dislocated along the Pine Mountain Thrust Fault.

This district lies a few miles east of Crossville, Tennessee; the name “Crab Orchard” is well known also, as we have seen, for the building stone that is quarried in this area.  The source of the name is a village that is nestled at the base of these mountains.

The highest of these “mountains” lie about 3000 feet above sea level.  A few miles farther north, the dissected edge of the plateau itself, called the Cumberland Mountains (however confusingly!), reaches even higher, to 3534 feet at Cross Mountain, the loftiest point between the Smoky Mountains and South Dakota’s Black Hills.

The Mystery of Standing Stone

Remnant of The Standing Stone located in Monterey, TN today.

So completely has white civilization altered the environment of the Cherokee Indians within two hundred years that a place and a monument of considerable significance to Indians of the Cumberland Plateau have almost disappeared from view and from memory – the major damage having been done during the past century.  Until the coming of the railway at the turn of the century, there existed on the edge of the plateau at Monterey an Indian monument known as Nee-Yah-Kah-Tah-Kee by the Cherokees and as Standing Stone by white people of the area.  The structure was apparently reverenced by the Indians, but the railroad people evidently dynamited the Standing Stone, and only a fragment of the stone (sandstone of the Plateau Caprock) remains today – mounted at the crest of a masonry monument in Monterey in 1895 by the Improved Order of Red Men.

Mr. Lane’s artsitic rendering of the original Standing Stone

Much speculation, but almost no proofs, continues to be cast about as to the real nature of the Standing Stone.  Some indications are given that the monument was in the shape of an animal, perhaps a dog, but no one knows for sure.  So much for the white citizens’ concern about Indian relics during the last century!  It is also uncertain whether the monument was natural or carved.  Whether it was a natural formation or something carved by Indians long forgotten (the author prefers the natural formation explanation), it was located in a place that must have had meaning for the early travelers across the Plateau.  Apparently, the route past the Standing Stone began as a game trail that was widened by Indian and the European settlers who succeeded them, to become the Old Walton Road of the nineteenth century and eventually a motor road that leads down the escarpment to Buck Mountain, Algood, and Cookeville on the Highland Rim.  The effort needed to reach the Standing Stone by a grueling climb from the rim up the western escarpment may have led to the reverential feeling that Indians seem to have exhibited toward the monument.  Perhaps this difficult climb seemed rewarded by a view of the unusual formation or carving, whichever it was.  It is not unusual for such pilgrimages to be accomplished up steep slopes or flights of stairs to an object or place of worship.

One is reminded at this juncture of Taoist pilgrimages up 6,700 stone steps to the crest of the Tai Shan in China, the Shinto pilgrims’ climb up Mount Fujiyama of Japan, Buddhists’ upslope struggle onto Shri Pada peak in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the great flights of steps up the sacrificial way of the Mexican pyramids, and the 3,000 stone steps that the Judeo-Christians follow as they make pilgrimages up Mount Sinai.  In any case, the Standing Stone, before its destruction, held an imposing position overlooking the Highland Rim a few miles to the west and some 700 feet below the Plateau’s edge.

The 3 States of Tennessee

I’m really excited to share this week’s chapter of  Harry Lane’s “Tennessee Memories”.  Remember last week we learned that Mr. Lane studied both geography and geology. How fascinating to look at my home through the eyes of these scientific disciplines!  Culturally and historically, the western, middle and eastern portions of Tennessee are unique.  Turns out God laid it out that way.

The article is lengthy so I’m going to share excerpts here, mainly the description of the plateau. 

According to some folk, Tennessee is three states in one:  East, Middle, and West Tennessee.  These are often indicated to be the three Grand divisions of Tennessee.  The boundaries, like most boundaries, are somewhat arbitrary.

Nature has deal in larger numbers in dividing Tennessee into regions.  There are seven to ten natural regions in the state, depending upon the way one counts ‘em.  Here is the way we’ll count ‘em:  nine natural regions as follows, from east to west.

(1)    The Unaka Mountains (also known, more popularly, as the Blue Ridge).  The mountain area of easternmost Tennessee continues eastward into North Carolina, southward into Georgia, and northward into Virginia.  The highest portion of this mountain area is known as the Great Smoky Mountains, or simply the Smokies.  This area is not only the highest mountain mass in Tennessee and North Carolina, but also the highest of the eastern United States…

(2)    The Ridge and valley.  This section of the state consists of alternating ridges and valleys all oriented northeast – southwest.  Some of the ridges attain altitudes up to 2000 feet or so, while the valleys are generally hundreds of feet lower.  The valleys usually are underlain by limestone that produces rich soil and a productive agriculture… With the exception of forestry or grazing of livestock, the ridges are essentially unused for agriculture.

Many of Tennessee’s best-known cities and towns are located in the Ridge and Valley.  These include Knoxville, Chattanooga, Johnson City, Bristol, Kingsport, Morristown, Cleveland, Athens, Harriman, Oak Ridge, Rockwood, Dayton, Sweetwater, Etowah, Maryville, Lenoir City, and Loudon.

(3)    The Cumberland Plateau.  The only plateau in Tennessee, the Cumberland is a sandstone-capped highland that reaches above 2000 feet in its highest elevations.  In places nearly level, the Plateau crest is in many other places severely dissected by natural (geologic) erosion, and the terrain resembles hills or mountains more than it does one’s image of plateaus (which are usually depicted as smooth-surfaced uplands).  The Cumberland Plateau extends northward into Kentucky and southward into Alabama.  The plateau has a sandy soil that has proved relatively unproductive, as compared to soils in other parts of the states – such as the limestone-based soils of the Ridge and Valley or Central Basin.  The escarpments on the eastern and western sides of the Plateau also proved to be impediments to settlement and economic development, since accessibility has been hampered by these steep barriers.  Much wilderness persists here, as a consequence , and this has become a valuable commodity in recent decades, as an attraction to vacationers and retired persons, many of whom seek relief from urban settings in the peace of the Plateau.  A number of resorts and retirement communities have been established there to serve and attract such people.

Crossville, in Cumberland County, is the largest Plateau town.  Others of consequence include Jamestown, South Pittsburg, Oneida, and Monterey.

(4)    The Sequatchie Valley.  This interesting valley has been cut into a fold in the rocks of the Cumberland Plateau by the river that bears the same name, Sequatchie… One of the most scenic parts of the state of Tennessee, this valley is also agriculturally productive.  Pikeville and Dunlap are the towns of the valley.

(5)    The Highland Rim. The next territory westward from the Cumberland Plateau is the Highland Rim… Often… viewed as consisting of two parts, the Eastern and Western Highland Rims.  On the east, this province represents a bench-like or terrace-like area that emerges from the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau.  …Generally the Highland Rim is 200 to 300 feet higher than the Central Basin that it surrounds.  In places smooth, the Highland Rim is also hilly and irregular in many places – like so much of Tennessee…

There are many towns that are well-known to Tennesseans that are located on the Highland Rim.  Prominent among these are Clarksville, Cookeville, McMinnville, Sparta, Springfield, Tullahoma, Winchester, Hohenwald, Lawrenceburg, Dickson, Waverly, Savannah, Portland, Dover, and Ashland City.

(6)    The Central Basin.  This section of the state is one that was sought by white settlers soon after initial settlement had begun west of the Blue Ridge Mountains…The Basin has been called the “Tennessee Bluegrass” because of its resemblance to the rich Kentucky Bluegrass Basin to the north.

(7)    The Western Valley  of the Tennessee River.  This small region serves as a boundary between the Western Highland Rim and the Coastal Plain (or West Tennessee Plain).  This portion of the Tennessee Valley is quite interesting in the fact that the river has reversed its course from the southward-flowing stream that it is in the Ridge and Valley of eastern Tennessee.  Between the eastern and western segments, the Tennessee flows through a gorge that it has cut across the Cumberland Plateau (the segment of the plateau known as Walden Ridge), dipping far southward into Alabama  before it heads the opposite direction across Tennessee and Kentucky, finally emptying into the Ohio River near the mouth of the Cumberland River.  It is difficult to explain why the great river would do this, for much the shorter course to the sea lies southward through Alabama; the puzzle intrigues and troubles geologists who study the problem.

No large towns or cities belong strictly to the Western Valley…

(8)    The Coastal Plain, or West Tennessee Plain.  This portion of Tennessee belongs to a region that is vast, and which extends from Long Island, New York, to the Mexican border (and even beyond that)… the Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain…  The immediate valley of the Mississippi River, however, is usually considered separately from the Coastal Plain, and so it is in Tennessee…

The largest city of the state, Memphis, lies at the southwestern edge of this province.  Jackson, Dyersburg, Millington, Union City, Paris, Humboldt, Milan, Martin, Brownsville, and Camden are among the other towns and cities of the area.

(9)    The Mississippi Alluvial Valley.  This part of Tennessee is small – only about 900 square miles.  It is floodplain land of the Mississippi River…

There are few towns on the alluvial plain of the Mississippi.  This sparseness of towns probably is more the consequence of the small size of the whole region than of flood dangers or any negative factors.  Tiptonville and Ridgely belong to the Alluvial Valley.

Meet Harry Lane - Author of Tennessee Memories

Last week I introduced Tennessee Memories by Harry Lane. His son (and one of my favorite people!) Derek Lane shared a little more information about the author so I want to pass that along to you this week.

Harry Lane (1936-2013) loved Tennessee, though he didn’t live here until his late twenties. He grew up in the hot coastal plains region of southern Georgia, studied geology at Georgia and geography at Kansas, and only moved to Tennessee when he began teaching geography at Tennessee Tech in 1964. He very much enjoyed the tremendous variety of landscapes in Tennessee, from the mountains in the east, to the Cumberland Plateau just east of Cookeville, to the Nashville Basin, and the fertile plains of the west. His love for the state extended to the four-season climate, the interesting place-names, the Scotch-Irish mountain heritage of many Tennessee residents, and its music. He even bought a ‘mountain dulcimer’ from a local craftsman and learned to play it. From the early 1980’s on, he captured many of the state’s natural wonders on film, and was also a painter in oils, watercolor, and acrylic. He was always a skilled writer, and his hobby list also included stone masonry, wood-working, calligraphy, and occasional poetry. Many of his former students remember him as a good instructor, a demanding but fair and kind professor. His wife of almost 53 years, Melba, still lives in Cookeville, and his three sons and four grandchildren live in Utah, Tennessee, and Illinois.