After reading Wayne Caldwell's book Requiem by Fire I want to visit the Great Smokey Mountain National Park that is so large it straddles Tennessee and North Carolina. This story talks about the people dispossessed by the government. The home owners were given the option of a low ball price on their property or they could get less money and still live there but under oppressive conditions. The conditions for staying on their land where their ancestors were buried were they could not harvest any wood that wasn't laying flat on the ground, couldn't hunt, couldn't manufacture moonshine, couldn't have alcohol on their premises, could not graze their livestock or expand their cultivated fields. They also were not allowed to bury anyone or take fish from the river. I know people who have had their property taken from them by the city or the state or for a federal organization and it is not easy. Hard feelings linger for decades and over generations. I can see why. Some people adapt to change better than others. Witnessing the heartache makes me want to visit that park. My enjoyment won't justify the pain they experienced but I still want to go.
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