Gatlin, which just returns various names, can vary from a machine gun inventor to an explorer.

Burg is a German and Dutch (as ‘burg’ or ‘burcht’) word meaning (fortified) castle.

First named White Oak Flats for the abundant white oak trees in the valley, it was settled in the early 1800’s by English, Scotch, Irish, and Scotch-Irish immigrants. The Ogles, Huskeys, McCarters, Reagans, and Whaleys were the first to settle the valley of the West Fork of the Little Pigeon River and its tributaries. Most heads of households were Revolutionary War veterans, come to claim title to 50 acre tracts of land allotted to each for their patriotic service. It is believed that a middle-aged widow, Martha Jane Huskey Ogle, was the first official settler here. She came with her family to start a new life in what her late husband had described as a “Land of Paradise” in what is now East Tennessee .

The first homesteads were located at the mouths of Baskins Creek, LeConte Creek (then called Mill Creek for its numerous grist mills), and Roaring Fork Creek, where each joined the Little Pigeon River. In the decades following, Maples, Trenthams, Ownbys, Clabos, Oakleys, Kings, Cardwells, Bohannons, and other families took up residence along streams, in hollows, and up mountainsides. Radford C. Gatlin came here in 1855 and opened the village’s second store. Although Gatlin was a controversial figure who was eventually banished from the community, the city still bears his name.

 So if anyone would ever ask maybe at a cocktail party or what have you, you now know!

As the town is nearly closed, i am forced to sit here an ponder. So what comes to mind? Where did the name Pigeon Forge come from. As i have yet to see a forge or a pigeon. If you are unfamiliarized as I, here is some great info on the two:

    Pigeon is a common name for birds of the taxonomic family Columbidae. Its most common species is the Rock Pigeon.

Pigeons and doves comprise the Columbidae family, within the Columbiformes class, which include some 300 species of birds. In general parlance the terms “dove” and “pigeon” are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological             practice, there is a tendency for “dove” to be used for smaller species and “pigeon” for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the term “dove” and “pigeon.”

The species commonly referred to just as the “pigeon” is the feral Rock Pigeon, common in many cities.

Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere.

The usually flimsy nests are made of sticks, and the two white eggs are incubated by both sexes. Doves feed on various seeds, fruit, and plants. Unlike most other birds the doves and pigeons produce “crop milk” which is secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Both sexes produce this highly nutritious substance to feed to the young.

Forge or smithy is the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith. Forging is the term for shaping metal by plastic deformation.

A basic smithy contains a forge, sometimes called a hearth for heating the metals, commonly iron or steel to a temperature where the metal becomes malleable, or to a temperature where work hardening ceases to accumulate, an anvil to lay the metal pieces on while hammering, and a slack tub to rapidly cool, and thus harden, forged metal pieces in. Tools include tongs to hold the hot metal, and hammers to strike the hot metal.

Once the final shape has been forged, iron and steel in particular often get some type of heat treatment. This can result in various degrees of hardening or softening depending on the details of the treatment.

So after a few minutes of some very scientific research i have found the actual begins on Pigeon Forge, TN.

Of course, like many areas of North America, Pigeon Forge and the Smoky Mountains were first explored and inhabited by various Indian tribes. The Cherokee Indians were very populous in this area. It wasn’t until the late 18th century that European settlers from the Carolinas followed the Pigeon River (named because pigeons were in abundance in the area) into the geographic area that became Pigeon Forge. It was after settler Isaac Love constructed an iron forge here in 1820 that the area grew to become known as Pigeon Forge TN.

Next up, Gatlinburg!!!

I continue to wake up way to early and head off to the golf course around 9am. Of coarse the course hadn’t changed any but i some how managed to do just as bad. Well see when we head out again tomorrow. But when we get back i change and then learn were heading back to Gatlinburg for another round of shops. Boy not a single good thing in any of those stores but maybe a Darth Vader mouse pad. 2000 miles later we drive on back, (We learned our mistake on the trolleys) and talked, or the lake there of to each other. We then decide to head on over to a place called “Applewood”, If you have the chance to go, DON’T! The refill ratio was horrible! It took 45+mins to get my drink and the food wasn’t all that good. I now know about a waitress’ life that i have no desire to care about, and she wouldn’t sell me Cornbread without the purchase of a cup of soup. Not happy at all! Very upset!!!! This now leads me to typing this blog, (Kinda odd thinking about writing a blog about writing a blog, and now continue to type about typing a blog. I wonder how long i can think about thinking about thinking about writing a blog…) It’s now past 12 and i have to be up at 8 to head to the links. Ill let ya know how that goes! good luck and don’t cry without me!

*Those pictures are coming sometime in the near future…

*GET OFF MY COMPUTER!

Anyone smart enough has already figured i’ve already left and arrived in good ole’ Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The Hotel I’m in is fairly nice, but any room with a bed, tv, and fridge would suffice for me… That’s right not even a toilet is needed. Boy do i miss my routine trips to the tree. I bet that tree is nearly dead without me watering it ever day. When we first arrived we unloaded and found our room, like any normal person would do. Then what do we do? Head to IHOP! WEWT! But boy was i wrong, not a single amercian in there… Trying to order anything but “pancakes” was a work of art. I even specifically asked for sugar free syrup but of course she brought another, yes, as if we didn’t already have 5 on the table, syrup. So when no on was looking i darted over to the counter and grabbed me some. Those pancakes were awfully good though! We some how made it outta there and headed back to the hotel to meet the fam. Over 40 hours after no having any sleep i head on off to bed around 10:30-11. The next day i some how manage to wake up and head off to golf. That was a fun time and really enjoyed it. I’ll upload some great pictures of the course and many others soon. I know you just can’t wait. Although there was the coolest golf hole i’ve ever seen there. called “Sky High”. We manage to come back and eat at Corky’s and then head on over to catch a troll for Gatlinburg. 15miins later we finally get across the street just to wait 15 more mins. We stroll through the streets for awhile and then head back to the trolley to wait another 45mins…Boy was that long. Stay tuned for more updates and photos!