Settling your family in a new location is always an adventure. You find that perfect home in a beautiful spot, arrange for professional movers, and pack your personal effects in carefully labeled boxes. On the big day, you arrive at the new home, ready to resume your active life while getting acquainted with your community.

Original Wagon Train Travelers Faced a Challenging Journey
But what if you embarked on that move with everything you owned in your vehicle? And you rode on deeply rutted roads often mired in mud and obstructed by fallen trees? During the late 1800s, many western North Carolina families traveled this way, making the trek from Asheville to Murphy, NC or stopping at a town along the way. Some travelers ventured as far as eastern Tennessee or northern Alabama.

Hardy travelers endured these bone-jarring trips in no-frills wooden wagons with uncomfortable seats and no air conditioning. Their companions rode along on horseback, fully exposed to the often-nasty weather conditions. In other words, neither form of transportation offered much in the way of creature comforts. Continue reading “60th Anniversary Wagon Train Re-enacts Region’s Colorful History Near Murphy, NC” →