Bob Plott Libri

Amid the rocky crags and misty hollows of North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains grew a generation of hardy and fascinating characters whose lives became the stuff of legend. Discover the tale of the bold Captain Kennedy and his ragtag band of Mohican and British comrades, who became French and Indian War heroes; how Henry Von Plott became a renowned bear hunter and breeder of the world's premier hunting dog; and the story of Yonaguska, considered to be the last truly great chief of the Cherokee Nation. Join Von Plott's great-nephew and prolific local author Bob Plott as he weaves the lively stories of these vibrant characters and their lasting legacy on the people who will always call the area home.

The Great Smoky Mountains were a remote and inaccessible place with no major highways or railroads until well after the Civil War. Using first enslaved and later convict labor, the Western North Carolina Railroad and Murphy Branch connected the mountains with the remainder of the state by 1891. The railroad brought commerce and tourism, and tourists and rail buffs continue to come to Bryson City to experience travel by steam train on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. The history of this line is a story like no other. It is a tale filled with tragedy, heroism, brains, blood, sweat, tears, nitroglycerin and humor. Local authors Jacob Morgan Plott and Bob Plott tell the story of a line that refused to die.