History of Early River Travel in East Tennessee before the TVA Dam's

There was a time when the waters of the Tennessee Valley ran free through these mountains and on to the Mississippi before TVA built the dam's. So beautiful, But so wild and dangerous. Thanks For Watching. SUBSCRIBE:: LIKE AND SHARE:: HELP GROW YOUR CHANNEL "DON'T MISS THE HISTORY AND STORIES OF OUR PAST:" SUBSCRIBE" THIS CHANNEL COVERS 9 DIFFERENT SUBJECTS !!! ( CHECK IT OUT) 1. Metal Detecting 2. Wildlife Videos 3. History & Mountain Culture 4.The Unexplained 5. Home projects 6. Hunting & Fishing 7. Nature Videos 8.Mining History 9. Video Shorts

[jake]

I have been to many countries with the US military and I saw many beautiful places in these countries but NONE of them are as beautiful as East Tennessee. Thank you Lord for me being born and raised and still living my 71 years so far in beautiful East Tennessee.

[bills.]

Really enjoyed this video and I appreciate the way you present the history and tie it in to how it is today. Thanks Mr. Laws.

[williamwalker]

Emery and the Clinch where they come together is where l was raised. Use to take a wooden ferry to get to the other side of the river from Sugar Grove Valley to Kingston. As a child growing up there was only 5-6 houses in the valley. Boy.... l had a big play ground when I was a kid. Now the houses are door to door...

[dukemetzger]

The inspiration for Mark Twain and the dreams of so many lads, including myself when I was young!

[judywhetsel]

I have sat many a time as a kid watching the boats go thru at Fort Loudon..I sure miss those simple times..

[MeadowDay]

Amazing seeing the true spirit and ingenuity of this great country. Wonder what happened to it.

[dormiacrouch]

Such beautiful country! Was very informative. Thanks Donnie! ❤🙏

[chrishousewright]

I grew up on long island on the holston river. It has a very rich heritage from the Indians to daniel boone!! It was a very sacred ground for the indians! I have found hundreds and hundreds of arrow heads there while growing up!

[DaveCollierCamping]

Those folks must have been tough individuals

[krishoogstraat]

I sure do enjoy your history videos. Thank you for sharing.

[barefoofDr]

Before the dams were built here in East Tennessee they had what was called the May Tide. This is when the rivers would get up from all the Spring rains.I studied with his son Robert Emmitt. He said in 1886 his Father Gains Emmitt put his tool chest on a log raft in Hawkins Co. going down the Clinch river to Knoxville to sell the logs and floated down to Knoxville. When he got to Knovxille he had two shirts and two pairs of breaches and his tool chest. He opened a cabinet shop and made a good living. I so much enjoy your videos and hope you don't mind the stories that I share with you.

[flyer]

I've been to the ferry at Union County and talked with the man operating it. Told him that many of my ancestors lived around there but they've all moved away over time. My mom's family left that area of Union County in 1922 and moved to Monroe, Michigan to work for Henry Ford. When I travel to East Tennessee it's almost like being home, there is an attachment that I can't explain ❤

[bobbyhenegar]

Awesome history as always. A lot of settlers came down the rivers settling new land. It would have been a sight watching the loading of the two houses on those barges. Thanks awesome job!!!

[louparry]

Today is my lucky day. I found another video that I haven't seen. Donnie, I really enjoyed this video very much. I have such a fascination about river travel. I Love to canoe. Thanks for sharing, your friend, Louise

[randalljulian]

Beautiful, Donnie! Lovely country we have!!🇺🇸🇺🇸

[bemurr]

Wonderful! My Grampie was known as King of the river back almost 100 years ago. Taking logs down our mighty Saint John river. Waaaay before my time. Our river changed vastly after putting the Mactacquac Dam in in 1967. We too had many houses moved, islands under many feet of water. My Dad who is almost 90 said he would watch his Dad take the logs through the rapids, down in front of where we had our summer campers. Dad said now there is at least 100 ft of water there. How I would love to see the way it was. Keep the stories coming!! (You should do a collab with Acquachigger. He loves history and detecting for Civil War items.)

[timothyboone]

Another good video as all of yours are. We still have a couple ferry’s in operation in my area. One crosses the Tennessee River, at Danville and the other crosses the Cumberland River at Cumberland City.

Before the coming of TVA the Tennessee River was divided into two parts, the upper and the lower. Mussel Shoals Alabama what’s the dividing point. Many attempts were made to construct a safe navigable channel through and around the shoals. It wasn’t until TVA came along before this was successfully accomplished. Those dams and locks are still in operation today.

I was employed in the inland towing industry for many years until a medical condition force me to retire from it. I sure miss that way of life.

Thank You Donnie.

[ftc]

Loved the story of "river travel." Great photos.

[josephprofiler]

My grandad and some of my dad's brothers use to float logs down the Powell river in the early 1900's, they lived in lonesome valley, at Bob Wiley bent.My dad wrote about this in one of his books.

[TheBlackSheepDiaries]

That's a whole dam lotta dams Donnie! Fantastic history documentary, for this water freak it just doesn't get any better than this, knew I was gonna love it! I just can't imagine folks moving into these areas, knowing the Indians were there and watching. My canoe would have been full of something besides water, and it wouldn't have smelled too good!