Wilderness Stories from Tallulah Falls

Tallulah Falls

Tallulah Falls and Adam Vandever

Cherokee word Tallulah or Tarrurah (“the terrible”) was originally applied to the river on account of its fearful falls. This river rises among the Alleghany Mountains and runs its course. In every particular, it is a mountain stream, narrow, deep, clear, and cold. It winds among the hills for several miles, running through a chasm whose perpendicular walls are about four miles in length; and, after making within the space of half a mile, the chasm deepens, and continues for a mile and a half further, until it leaves the chasm.

The Five Falls of Tallulah have been christened Lodora, Tempesta, Oceana, Honcon, and the Serpentine. Their several heights are said to be forty-five feet, one hundred, one hundred and twenty, fifty, and thirty feet, making, in connection with the accompanying rapids, a descent of at least four hundred feet within the space of half a mile. At this point, the stream is particularly winding, and the perpendicular cliffs of solid granite on either side vary in height from six hundred to nine hundred feet.

Many of the pools are very large and very deep, and the walls and rocks in their immediate vicinity are always mossy green. Also, the vegetation of the whole chasm is thick with pine trees, lichens, vines, and flowers.

A strong wind, ever blowing, blows through an immense gorge. It is where the sunlight never falls upon the cataracts without forming beautiful rainbows, and the ears hear the roar of the waterfalls.

Tallulah Falls, Georgia, April, 1848. Adam Vandever was known as “the Hunter of Tallulah.” He lived in a log cabin near the mouth of the Tallulah chasm. The cabin occupied the centre of a small valley, through which the Tallulah River winds its wayward course. It was completely hemmed in on all sides by wild and abrupt mountains, and “one of the most romantic and beautiful nooks imaginable.”

Vandever was about sixty years of age, small in stature, of a “regular built weasel face, a small gray eye, and wore a long white beard.” He was born in South Carolina, spent his early manhood in the wilds of Kentucky, and spent the last thirty years of his life in the Georgia wilderness.

He participated in the Creek War and is said to have killed more Indians than any other white man in the army. In the battle of Ottassee alone, he is reported to have sent his rifle-ball through the hearts of twenty poor heathen who refused to leave their native hills.

Crashing of the Boulder

Vandever told the story of when he was encamped upon one of the loftiest mountains in Union County, Georgia. It was near the twilight hour when he heard the howl of a wolf. With a view of determining the direction from whence it came, he climbed upon an immense boulder-rock (weighing perhaps fifty tons,) which stood on the very brow of a steep hillside. While standing upon this boulder, he suddenly felt a swinging sensation, and to his astonishment, saw that the boulder was about to fall into the ravine half a mile below him. As fortune would have it, the limb of an oak tree drooped over the rock; and, as the rock started from its tottlish foundation, he seized the limb, and thereby saved his life!

While he was suspended in the air, he heard the dreadful crashing of the boulder as it descended the mountainside. When it reached the bottom, he fell on the very spot where the boulder had fallen. Vandever said that this was the only time in his life when he had been really frightened; and he also added that after this escape, he did not care a finger’s snap for the finest game in the wilderness!

A Childhood Story

When Adam Vandever was twelve years old, he and his younger brother had been gathering berries along the side of a mountain. While tramping down the weeds and bushes, the younger boy was bitten by a rattlesnake on the calf of his leg. A few moments later, he fell to the ground in great pain.

Adam, the elder boy, killed the rattlesnake and decided to carry his little brother home upon his back.

For two long miles he carried his heavy burden, over rocks and down the water-courses, and in an hour, after he reached his father’s cabin, the younger child was dead! Adam, far from a strong person, was in a state of insensibility from the fatigue and heat which he had experienced. It was a trauma that he never forgot!

Source: Letters from the Alleghany Mountains by Charles Lanman (1849).

About Snakes

“I was quietly jogging along the road, when I was startled by the dropping of a snake from a small tree. I stopped to see what was the matter, and discovered it to be a black snake orracer, and that he had in his mouth the tail end of a scarlet lizard about five inches long. It was evident the snakehad some difficulty in swallowing the precious morsel, and while he seemed to be preparing for another effort, I saw the lizard twist its body and bite the snake directly on the back of the head, which caused the latter to loosen his hold. Again did I see the snake attack the lizard, and a second time did the lizard bite the snake, whereupon the serpent gave up the fight, and, while I was hunting for a stick to kill the serpent, both of the reptiles made their escape. The little village of Murphy, whence I date this letter, lies at the junction of the Owassa and Valley rivers, and in point of location is one of the prettiest places in the world.”

Source: Source: Letters from the Alleghany Mountains by Charles Lanman (1849).

Genealogy Tips: Many old tales were repeated concerning the pioneers who settled in this district. Had it not been for the now out-of-print-book, Letters from the Alleghany Mountains, these stories would have been forgotten.