Sewanee - the Big Mountain

SEWANEE - THE BIG MOUNTAIN The Cherokee Indians gave Sewanee its name which means "Big Mountain." Big Mountain is a befitting name, since all you see as you drive toward Sewanee is a "big mountain" spread out in front of you. It starts from the beginning, the beginning of time that is! This story begins millions of years ago when Sewanee was an inlet sea. It was hard for me to grasp the thought that a mountain was created out of a sea. But, that is what the experts say...
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SEWANEE - THE BIG MOUNTAIN The Cherokee Indians gave Sewanee its name which means "Big Mountain." Big Mountain is a befitting name, since all you see as you drive toward Sewanee is a "big mountain" spread out in front of you. It starts from the beginning, the beginning of time that is! This story begins millions of years ago when Sewanee was an inlet sea. It was hard for me to grasp the thought that a mountain was created out of a sea. But, that is what the experts say happened that created the Cumberland Plateau. It progresses to the prehistoric times on the southwestern tip of Cumberland Plateau where Sewanee is located. I think you will be surprised at what was taking place thousands of years ago in our area. Until 1819, Sewanee was part of the Cherokee Indian Nation, but most articles written about Sewanee say that Indians never lived on the Mountain, that they only used it for hunting and camping grounds. There was an Indian settlement located at Jump Off and there could be others yet to be discovered. The book shows a connection between the first Tennessee settlers on the Holston and Watauga Rivers in East Tennessee; settlers from Boonesborough in Kentucky; early settlers of Franklin County Tennessee and people involved in helping the bishops of the Episcopal Church establish the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. It identifies a place called "Little Mountain" where an Irishman named Leslie Kennedy found a seam of coal in 1851 that lit the spark that made the Cumberland Plateau what it is today. Well, "Little Mountain" has finally been found and I believe you will enjoy hearing its story. From newspaper articles written in 1858, I learned that Bishop William Mercer Green of Mississippi conducted the first sermon delivered by an Episcopal Bishop at Sewanee. That sermon is in this book. And from other articles written during that same year, I learned that Franklin County Citizens played an important role in Sewanee being selected as the site for the University of the South.