Let’s kick off today’s book talk with Lance Holland’s “The Little Tennessee River: Following the Cherokee Path” (The History Press, 2026, 224 pages).
In his story of this river, Holland takes an interesting approach to the past. He focuses our attention on the many transitions and developments in transportation and industry which the passage of time has brought to our mountains: the coming of the European settlers, the opening up of the mountains along the river with trails and rough roads, the railroads drawing in tourists and industry, the dams that provided electricity here and elsewhere, and most recently, the return of some of this land to an earlier state of wilderness.
Holland’s story of geography, development, and commerce brings us accounts of those men and women — the Cherokee, the early settlers, the loggers, miners, and dam-builders — who left their mark on the region, while certain other chapters of history necessarily receive short shrift in his narrative. With the exception of his description of the 1865 skirmish between Union and Confederate troops at White Sulphur Springs, for example, Holland says little about the Civil War in these mountains.
