History of the Smokies The Great Smoky Mountains are among the oldest mountains on Earth.
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History of the Smokies. The Great Smoky Mountains are among the oldest mountains on Earth. Their rich biodiversity is a remnant of the last Ice Age, when glaciers stopped their southward advance short of the Great Smokies, setting up a treasury of living things that would continue to diversify for thousands of years. Humans have occupied these mountains since prehistoric times, adapting to changes in climate and environment. Hunters and gatherers passed through here over 12,000 years ago. More permanent communities developed during the Woodland Period, 3,000 to 1,000 years ago. By the time European-American settlers arrived in the region in the 1700s, they found themselves in the land of one of the most culturally advanced tribes on the continent, the Cherokee. Chimneys by Jim Thompson The Great Smoky Mountains lie in the midst of the Cherokee homeland, where they nurtured complex systems of agriculture, government and trade during more than 1,000 years of habitation. They had a de...