Tit for Tat....

This past week, we were in Pigeon Forge at a conference.  For those of you who know anything about Tennessee, you know that Pigeon Forge is located close to the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  Inside the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is an area called Cades Cove.

Cades Cove was settled in the late 1700/early 1800's.  The residents there were the first white settlers in this particular area, with the original settlers being Indians.  These people worked hard to build their homes.  They had no chain saws or circular saws or jig saws or anything else.  Each log was hand hewn with an ax!  The trees were cut down and made into logs using an ax!  They worked the land and it produced so many wonderful foods for them.  They fished, raised cattle and farmed for a living.  They also gathered chestnuts, which fed the animals, as well as brought money to these settlers when they sold them to nearby towns.  These people were what we would refer to as "dirt poor", but they never saw themselves as poor.

In Cades Cove, you can find some of the settlers homesteads, churches, barns, the grist mill, corn cribs, etc.  These buildings have been here for over 200 years and the National Park has worked hard to keep these cabins, churches and outbuildings preserved.

After reading about these people and their life, I was OUTRAGED beyond calming when I saw this in most of the cabins....


....vandals writing their names all over the inside and outside of these settler's homes!  I proceeded to throw a hissy fit AND conniption...and believe me, for a Southerner, this ranks right up there with an F5 tornado!  These signatures covered just about every wall.  Names were carved into the fireplace mantels and in the doors.  Some little girls used NAIL POLISH to write their names!  And then someone had taken a knife and dug into the wood of this out building that was used for storage...


These writings and carvings were inside the church...the church that the descendants of these settlers still use every Sunday during the warmer months.  They come down out of the mountains and have church services and dinner on the ground.  And they have to look at this disgraceful garbage in their church and in their ancestors' homes!

So here's my sentence for these vandals.  You should write your name in permanent marker all over your face, so that you have to look at it every single day.  And then all of you who thought yourselves so important as to deface a historical landmark and someone's hard work, should be dropped off in the middle of Cades Cove to rebuild every single cabin, church, barn and outbuilding that you have destroyed.  You would build each place using only the tools that these settlers had to use.  You would live like they did with no electricity, no phone, no TV, no modern convenience.  You would feed you and your family off the land and you would know what it was like to live doing without the most minimal comforts of today.  And then, maybe, you would think about what you were doing before you ever destroyed a piece of history ever again!!


My rant is over.  Before we left, I spoke to the bees hovering outside and told them they needed to do a better job of protecting these homes! ;-)




30 comments

  1. Hi Benita! :)
    Well said my friend! I am with you, and if I had of been there with you we would have been a Tornado and a Hurricane because there is nothing that makes me madder than someone who was not taught to appreciate the history and property of others!
    I see vandalism quite often here where we live...broken liquor bottles thrown out of cars that I have to watch for while walking our dog, spray paint at the park, broken tree branches...the list goes on!
    Sometimes I feel like no one appreciates anything anymore...it's just so sad!
    And having them rebuild everything - that's the perfect punishment for the crime!

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    1. Thank you Kimberley! It just infuriates me to see beautiful landmarks and pieces of our everyday life littered by those who could care less. If they need to break bottles and write all over everything, they need to do it their own houses so they can enjoy their handiwork and not subject us to it all. And just the blatant disregard for the property of others, as well as historic landmarks, is totally inexcusable!! I had a lot of other ideas for them, but I'm fairly sure they are illegal! ;-)

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  2. Well said indeed! Bee stings would be too good for them. What is wrong with these people? We have them in Ireland too I hasten to add!

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    1. Agreed!! I just don’t understand the desire to totally destroy something that someone else has built or created. I know you guys are furious also because your buildings date back so much further than ours!

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  3. You can only feel sorry for someone so ill bred and small minded that they actually think they have the right to do this to a place of heritage. We were in that area 2 years ago and did not know about this cove. Next trip we will see this for sure.

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    1. They are definitely those things! That’s why I think they should get a taste of how hard life was and then maybe they would appreciate things so much more! You will love it, please do make a point to go there. The scenery on the drive up is gorgeous and the mountains are breathtaking!

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    1. Thank you Deb! I think it was deserved...LOL. The hubster told me that my yelling was scaring the other tourists. :-)

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  5. This sadden's me to no end !! Pigeon Forge is shopping galore, Gatlinburg I'm sure was filled with amazing flower's.So sad to hear about The Cove's, those kid's were raised so well, NOT !!!!! Hug's,TT

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    1. You are right….it is so beautiful there! I’ve been a couple of times over the years, and while I do not like all of the commercialization that has taken place, there are still gorgeous places up in the mountain to see. And the Artisan’s Loop is wonderful…seeing all of those handmade treasures! Hugs!!

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  6. I am right there with you GF. That is terrible. What a bunch of ill mannered kids. Looks like a wonderful place for history. It is amazing to read the stories and find out how hard these people had to work to carve out a life for themselves. Just amazing just sorry vandals had to deface such a beautiful place.
    Kris

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    1. Kris, I know, it is heartbreaking! And the sad thing is that I don't think their parents even cared that they did it because it looks as if adults had participated. If either one of my boys had EVER done anything like this, there would be a spanking involved, as well as a written apology to the families of those people and some community service. The area is just gorgeous and it makes me so sad to see this disgraceful mutilation of these buildings.

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  7. I am also with you about the outrage of the stupid things people do-I thought your idea of writing with permeant in on the face was a great one!

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    1. Thank you! Some people need to be taught a lesson about how to treat other people and their possessions. I had a few other things in mind, but the hubster said I can’t put those things in writing…LOL

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  8. I am a huge history buff and have such deep respect for the people that built this country that I am so fortunate to live in. I am saddened by this and only wish that you came across some of these kids in the act. Oh boy, that would've cured them of their disrespectful ways for sure! ;) You go girl!

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    1. It saddens me also...especially after reading how much work these people did and how their lives were lived. I feel certain that if I had caught one doing anything to those buildings while I was there, I would be writing all of this from jail. :-) Did I mention I have an Italian temper also?? LOL I was furious. I stayed in one of the houses for a bit and every time some kid walked in I would talk about how disgraceful, rude and ignorant this behavior was and exactly what I would do to them if they were my kids. They promptly left....LOL

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  9. How can people be so destructive!? It makes me mad too, and very sad, that people do not have respect for their history or feel entitled to vandalize, instead of appreciating it's beauty for all to enjoy! Sounds like a wonderful trip, Benita! I'm adding this to my travel bucket list! =) hugs, Christine

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    1. Oh, Christine, you would love it. The mountains are so beautiful up in this part of Tennessee. There is a constant “smoke-like” fog that hangs around all year. It looks like smoke coming out of chimneys…which adds to the visual interest. Deer, bear and turkeys are roaming around for you to see. One time, many years ago, I was stupidly trying to feed some black baby bears when their mama showed up…very unhappy…LOL. I don’t understand the ignorance or thought processes of people who enjoy being destructive. It just escapes me!! Hugs!!

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  10. This is incredibly shameful. There is no respect! I hope the bees get busier from now on ;)

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    1. Me too Julie! I gave them a good talking to...I hope they paid attention to my instructions...LOL I was so angry and sad when we left this area! I've griped about it to anyone who will listen! :-)

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  11. I would be so angry too! Where are the parents of the little girls writing their names in nail polish, is what I want to know!!

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    1. That was my question also AnnMarie! It was just so sad and infuriating to see all the graffiti inside and outside those beautiful homes!

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  12. Horrible....

    And I understand your need to rant. Oh I do. I'm not Southern. I'm a "damn Yankee". But I can rant, with the best of them!!!!!

    Unfairness sets me off. And among other things, this stupid desecration of these places, is certainly unfairness. To the early settlers. And to all who value being able to view there homes, etc.
    Grrrrrrrr.......

    Tessa

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    1. It is deplorable behavior and shows a lack of respect for anyone or anything! I can only imagine what these vandals do to other property! Building these homes was so laborious...I cannot even begin to imagine what all they went through just to put a roof over their heads. And then our society comes along and devalues their lives in every way. Makes me sick!

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  13. I so hear you. it's the same wherever you go over here too. you have buildings that are literally a thousand years old and people put their names on it. stupid doesn't describe it. that said, apparently they found people's names scratched into the walls of ancient Pompeii. at least we as a race were stupid all along...

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    1. I know y'all are enraged because of the age of the buildings in Europe! I just don't understand it, at all. That does make me feel some better...that our society does not corner the market on stupidity and ignorance!

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  14. I'm sure you know just how much this pisses me off. It's like when they bulldoze a 100 year old building to make a parking lot. Grrr......

    xo

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    1. Yes ma'am! I am with you, that enrages me also. Why would you destroy a historic landmark so that people, who really need the exercise, don't have to walk as far??!! Hugs!!

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  15. Preach it sister! That wasn't a problem the last time I was there many years ago. It's such a shame and I love your punishment and that you were riled up by the damage.

    You certainly caught the spirit of the settlers in your post, Benita. And I collect old books about the people of that area, so I know. They were admirable people, hard working and proud, far from the lamentable label people sometimes call them.

    Nicely done, dear friend!

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    1. Thank you so much Dewena! I made sure everyone heard me ranting about the horrors of all that graffiti all over those gorgeous cabins. They were definitely hard working, proud and really poor people…no luxuries or comforts for them. And to see someone do this to their homes. One of the men who used to live there told a story about how they would gather up all the chestnuts that fell from the trees and take them all the way to Knoxville to sell for just a little bit of money…. Knoxville was a long hard ride in a wagon back in the day. All I know is that those bees better do what I told them to and sting the fire out of the next person who tries to write on the walls!

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